Europe

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin on Monday to keep talking with the West on Moscow’s security demands, a signal from the Kremlin that it intends to continue diplomatic efforts amid U.S. warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe, the demands flatly rejected by the West.

13 Feb 2022; MEMO: A European political party slammed Greece on Friday for a new probe launched into a Turkish minority association that organised a march for rights in July.

The march by the Xanthi Turkish Union (Iskece Turk Birligi-ITB), one of the oldest and most influential associations of Turkish minorities in Greece, had been attended by thousands of people and prominent figures who protested that Greece had not applied decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which favored the minority.

14 Feb 2022; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Iraq on Saturday advised their nationals against travelling to Ukraine as tension continues to escalate between Russia and the West.

On Twitter, the UAE Embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv urged its citizens to postpone any travel to Ukraine amid fear of a possible Russian invasion.

KIEV, February 13. /TASS/: The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has branded as rumors the reports that Russian citizens are no longer allowed to enter Ukraine.

"There’s Ukrainian legislation regulating the crossing of the state border and border guards closely observe it," the service’s spokesman, Andrey Demchenko, told Ukraine’s Telegraf.

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/: Moscow will consider the views that US President Joe Biden expressed in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when working on a reaction to the United States and NATO’s response to its proposals on security guarantees, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Saturday.

"The two presidents agreed that Moscow will carefully study the views that Biden expressed and if possible, take them into account when working on a reaction to the documents on the US and NATO’s positions," he pointed out.

MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/: Russia has registered 197,949 new confirmed COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, with the total number of infections reaching 14,133,509 cases, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

According to the crisis center, the relative increase of new infections is at the level of 1.4%.

MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/: A Virginia-class submarine belonging to the US Navy was spotted in Russia’s territorial waters near the Kurils by Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft and one of the Pacific Fleet submarines during a planned exercise on locating a submarine of a hypothetical enemy, a source close to the naval sphere told TASS.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday denied that it had carried out military operations in Russian territorial waters, after Moscow said a Russian naval vessel chased away a U.S. submarine in Russian waters in the Pacific.

Russia accused Washington of breaking international law and creating a national security threat over the incident at a time of high tensions between Moscow and Washington over a Russian military buildup near Ukraine.

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - British defence minister Ben Wallace said on Sunday he was returning from a holiday in Europe after one day to deal with what he called the "worsening" crisis in Ukraine as he warned that Russia could invade any time.

Wallace had planned to spend a long weekend abroad with his family after visiting Moscow last week for diplomatic talks. ITV News said the minister announced the change of plans after one of its journalists spotted him at a European resort and the broadcaster sought comment from the Ministry of Defence.

MOSCOW, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Russian leader Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Joe Biden that Moscow would review ideas he laid out to address Russia's security demands in a phone call on Saturday, but that they still did not tackle Moscow's key concerns, the Kremlin said.

Biden and Putin spoke by phone amid high tension over a Russian military buildup near Ukraine that has fuelled fears of a looming invasion. Russia has repeatedly denied any such plans.