Europe

29 July 2022; MEMO: French President, Emmanuel Macron, was hosting Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Thursday as part of increased Western efforts to court the major oil-producing State amid the war in Ukraine and faltering talks to revive a nuclear deal with Iran, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is less popular than Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

Earlier, Borrell drew attention to the fact that the Western media sometimes do not convey the statements he made, but write about the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s words.

"He is indeed less popular than Lavrov, he has no chance here," the Kremlin spokesman said.

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: The coronavirus incidence is indeed on the rise yet this situation is observed not only in Russia but in a number of other countries as well, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday.

"The figures have been growing indeed. We see that the curve began to climb. Such alarming dynamics are observed not only in our country but also in many other states," he noted, commenting on the pandemic situation.

STOCKHOLM, July 28. /TASS/: The European Union’s rules do not allow a complete ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian nationals, Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a response from the European Commission.

"Visas should always be available to certain categories of applicants. Processing visa applications is the responsibility of [EU] member states who are obliged to make decisions on a case-by-case basis," the newspaper quoted the European Commission as saying.

VIENNA, July 28. /TASS: It is impossible to impose an embargo on Russian gas because it threatens by industry collapse and unemployment, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a press conference with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"The position of Austria is such that it is impossible to introduce an embargo in respect of gas. Not merely because Austria depends on Russian gas, the German industry also depends on it, and if it collapses, the Austrian one will crash down also; we will face mass unemployment," the politician said.

KYIV, July 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will up its export of electricity to the European Union as the bloc faces an energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion.

“We are preparing to increase our electricity exports to consumers in the European Union,” Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation.

“Our exports would not only allow us to increase our income in foreign currency but will also help our partners to resist Russian energy pressure,” he said after Russia drastically slashed its gas deliveries to Europe.

MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) - Former Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova was fined 50,000 roubles ($820) on Thursday after being found guilty of discrediting the country's armed forces in social media posts condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine.

The ruling was passed after a short hearing in a Moscow administrative court. Ovsyannikova rejected the proceedings against her as "absurd".

"The evidence confirms Ovsyannikova's guilt. There is no reason to doubt its authenticity," the judge said.

PARIS, July 28 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday as part of increased Western efforts to court the major oil-producing state amid the war in Ukraine and faltering talks to revive a nuclear deal with Iran.

French opposition figures and human rights groups have criticised Macron's decision to invite to dinner at the Elysee Palace a man Western leaders believe ordered the murder in 2018 of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

July 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine's counteroffensive is gathering momentum in the Russian-controlled southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Britain's defence ministry said on Thursday.

"Ukrainian forces have highly likely established a bridqehead south of the lngulets River, which forms the northern boundary of Russian-occupied Kherson," it said in a regular intelligence bulletin on Twitter.

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday said there was no deal yet with the United States on swapping detained U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and a former marine for a jailed Russian cast by prosecutors as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had made a "substantial offer" to Russia to release U.S. citizens held in Russia, and a source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death."