Europe

MOSCOW, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament may seek guidance from the government on whether to call for the recognition of two breakaway Ukrainian regions as independent, its speaker said on Friday, implying that the step could be delayed.

The State Duma, Russia's lower house, is due on Monday to set a date to vote on a group of lawmakers' proposal to appeal to President Vladimir Putin to recognise the two self-proclaimed republics that are supported by Moscow.

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - France mobilised thousands of police, armoured personnel carriers and water cannon trucks in Paris on Friday to keep out convoys of motorists converging on the capital for a protest against COVID-19 restrictions.

Checkpoints were set up at toll points on major entry roads while riot-control barriers were erected across the city centre ahead of rallies that the protesters aim to hold over the weekend.

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron's DNA, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters.

As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow.

MOSCOW/ADELAIDE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Russia is massing yet more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time, perhaps before the end of this month's Winter Olympics, Washington said on Friday.

Moscow, for its part, stiffened its truculent response towards Western diplomacy, saying answers sent this week by the EU and NATO to its security demands showed "disrespect".

Commercial satellite images published by a private U.S. company showed new Russian military deployments at several locations near Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed Kazakhstan's stability and bilateral cooperation during their talks in Moscow on Thursday.

President Tokayev's firm stance, Russia's support, and the assistance of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) made it possible to restore order and peace in Kazakhstan in the shortest time possible, Putin said during a press conference following talks with the Kazakh leader.

ZAGREB, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday called for reducing tensions between Ukraine and Russia and supported diplomatic efforts by the international community.

"We advocate the de-escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Russia and between Russia and the West," Plenkovic said in a joint statement after talks with the Greek prime minister, who is on his second visit to Croatia in two and half years.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Constitutional Court has refused to temporarily block the implementation of a coronavirus vaccine mandate for care and health workers that is due to come into force in mid-March.

The country’s top court said Friday that it had rejected a bid to impose an injunction against the measure until a legal challenge against its constitutionality is formally reviewed.

The Karlsruhe-based court received dozens of complaints after Parliament approved the measure late last year.

MOSCOW (AP) — Britain’s defense secretary visited Moscow Friday for talks on easing tensions amid massive Russian war games near Ukraine.

Ben Wallace’s trip comes a day after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held talks in Moscow, urging Russia to pull back over 100,000 troops amassed near Ukraine and warning that attacking its neighbor would “have massive consequences and carry severe costs.”

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/: The Russian government will do everything possible to ensure implementation of the economic agreements reached between Russia and Kazakhstan at the highest level, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during his meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday.

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/: The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) are preparing provocations at the contact line in Donbass and their ‘reporting’ in a fashion, similar to that of the ‘White Helmets’ in Syria, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said in an interview Thursday.