Europe

VIENNA, May 11. /TASS/: Hungary is ready to support the ban on Russian oil imports only if the European Commission (EC) offers a solution to issues that may arise in this case, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday, adding that Brussels has not provided any respective proposals yet.

The embargo should not cover Russian shipments to Hungary via pipelines, the minister noted. "Hungary will take this position during the future talks," he said.

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday explained why some news outlets including foreign agent the Meduza were excluded from the Kremlin press pool.

He said the Meduza stopped being a Russian news medium, and it doesn’t have Foreign Ministry accreditation as a foreign publication.

"The Meduza essentially stopped having any ties with Russia, meaning it’s not a Russian news medium. They don’t have accreditation," Peskov told reporters.

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: Polish Ambassador to Russia Krzysztof Krajewski was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, where he was notified that Moscow expected official apologies from the Polish authorities in connection with an attack on Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreyev on May 9.

"Krajewski was notified that the Russian side expects official apologies from the Polish leadership in connection with the incident and demands to ensure the safety of the Russian ambassador and all employees of the Russian foreign missions in Poland," the ministry reported.

VIENNA, May 11. /TASS/: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres does not see the possibility of concluding peace or achieving a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine at the moment.

"At the present moment, there are no immediate chances of a peace agreement or immediate chances for a global ceasefire," he told a news conference after a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

HELSINKI, May 11 (Reuters) - Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin should look in the mirror if Finland decides to join NATO to increase its own security.

The Finnish leader was expected on Friday to confirm that Helsinki will apply for membership of the U.S.-led Western military alliance in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Niinisto made his remark when asked by reporters as he met Britain's prime minister in Helsinki to sign a mutual defence cooperation pact whether Finland feared Russian aggression.

May 11 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow did not want war in Europe, but that Western countries were keen to see Russia defeated in its military campaign in Ukraine.

"If you are worried about the prospect of war in Europe - we do not want that at all," Lavrov said at a news conference in Muscat after talks with his Omani counterpart.

"But I draw your attention to the fact that it is the West that is constantly and persistently saying that in this situation, it is necessary to defeat Russia. Draw your own conclusions."

KIRKENES, Norway, May 11 (Reuters) - Kirkenes, a Norwegian town a stone's throw from Russia, was for over three decades a symbol of cross-border harmony in the Arctic. That came to a crashing end when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then people have been adapting to the new realities.

One is the prospect that neighbouring Finland could join Norway in NATO, with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto expected to say on Thursday it should apply to the military alliance. 

WARSAW/VILNIUS, May 11 (Reuters) - Russian diplomat Sergiy Andreev was feeling unwelcome on the streets of Warsaw even before protesters doused him with red liquid thrown in his face at short range this week.

Soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Andreev, who is Moscow's ambassador in Poland, found the embassy bank accounts had been frozen. Attempts to meet with Polish officials for any level of diplomatic discussion were impossible, he said.

His regular barber refused to cut his hair. Insurance companies denied coverage for embassy cars, Andreev said.

May 11 (Reuters) - Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev accused the United States on Wednesday of waging a “proxy war” against Russia after the House of Representatives approved a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, and said the U.S. economy would suffer.

Writing on the messenger app Telegram, Medvedev said that the bill approved by the House on Tuesday was a bid “to deal a serious defeat to our country and limit its economic development and political influence in the world.”

HELSINKI, May 11 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he had agreed new deals with Sweden and Finland to bolster European security, pledging to support both countries' armed forces should they come under attack.

Johnson signed the new declarations, described by Britain as "a step-change in defence and security cooperation", during visits to both Sweden and Finland on Wednesday.