Europe

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Last exhibit items belonging to the State Hermitage Museum sent to exhibits in Europe, returned to Russia, Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said on Tuesday.

She explained that these are two paintings from the exhibit dedicated to female images in Titian’s art which took place in Italy. "These masterpieces were the only items from the collections of Russian state museums at this exhibit. They also were the last items from the Hermitage located until now on the territories of European countries," she wrote on her Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: There is a legal hiccup in the question of South Ossetia’s referendum on accession to Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted.

"There is a legal mishap in the formulation of the question on unification, the way that it was put. So efforts are needed to figure it all out. Russia just can’t unite with anyone," Peskov pointed out.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko warned European Union Ambassador to Moscow Markus Ederer on Tuesday that the bloc’s ongoing arms supplies to Kiev were unacceptable.

"Russia stressed as unacceptable the EU’s ongoing weapons supplies to Ukrainian forces. [Russia] stressed that the weapons are being used for attacks on civilian infrastructure in Donbass localities leaving civilians and children dead," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: Even though Russia is going through new trials and tribulations at present, they are being tackled and will be overcome, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his meeting with military college graduates Tuesday.

The head of state spotlighted the courage and professionalism of the servicemen, involved in the operation in Ukraine, and assured that the armed forces will be reinforced and will become even stronger. Here are the main statements made by President Putin.

MOSCOW, June 21 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday it did not know the location of two Americans captured while fighting in eastern Ukraine, but that they were mercenaries and could be sentenced to death in Russian-backed breakaway territories.

Americans Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, went missing this month while fighting near Kharkiv. Russian state media later showed video interviews with the pair, saying they had been captured by Russian-backed forces.

BRUSSELS, June 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine is set to become an official candidate for European Union membership on Thursday in a symbolic but morale-boosting decision following Russia's invasion, ministers and diplomats said on Tuesday.

EU leaders in Brussels are expected to sign off on last week's recommendation by the European Commission, the EU executive. After several days of internal EU discussions no opposition among the 27 member states has surfaced, three diplomats told Reuters. 

COPENHAGEN, June 20 (Reuters) - Denmark will keep its fleet of F-16 fighter jets operational three years longer than planned amid a heightened security threat from Russia, the country's Defence Minister Morten Bodskov said on Monday.

The NATO country will spend 1.1 billion Danish crowns ($156 million) to keep its F-16s flying until 2027. Denmark agreed in 2016 to buy a fleet of F-35 Lightning fighter jets from Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) with a plan to retire its F-16s in 2024.

LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of workers walked out on the first day of Britain's biggest rail strike in 30 years on Tuesday, with millions of passengers facing days of chaos as both the unions and government vowed to stick to their guns in a row over pay.

The strike by more than 40,000 rail staff, which is due to be replicated on Thursday and Saturday, caused major disruption across the network, bringing most services to a standstill and leaving major stations deserted. The London Underground metro was also mostly closed due to a separate strike.

KYIV, June 21 (Reuters) - German self-propelled howitzers have arrived in Ukraine in the first delivery of heavy weapons promised by Berlin, Ukraine's defence minister said on Tuesday.

Ukraine has pleaded with the West to send more and better artillery as the country runs out of ammunition for its existing Soviet-era arsenal, which is dwarfed by Russia's.

"We have replenishment!...The German Panzerhaubitze 2000 with trained Ukrainian crews joined the Ukrainian artillery family," Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on social media.

LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - A top ally of President Vladimir Putin told Lithuania on Tuesday that Moscow would respond to its ban on the transit of goods sanctioned by the EU to Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad in such a way that citizens of the Baltic state would feel the pain.

With relations between Moscow and the West at a half-century low over Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania banned the transit of goods sanctioned by the European Union across its territory to and from the exclave, citing EU sanction rules.