Russia

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: By supplying arms to Ukraine, the United States will not be able to deprive Russia of the right to its own voice in international affairs and force it to comply with the rules invented by Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel on Sunday.

When asked about what the United States is trying to achieve by sending additional shipments of weapons to Ukraine, the minister pointed out that Washington had declared these goals for a long time.

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: Several commanders of Ukraine’s Azov nationalist battalion, who surrendered in Mariupol, have been taken to Moscow’s Lefortovo detention center, a source in law enforcement agencies told TASS on Sunday.

"Currently, several Azov commanders, who were taken prisoner during the battles for Mariupol, have been taken to Lefortovo," the source said but did not disclose their names.

June 19 (Reuters) - Russia said on Sunday that its offensive against Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine was proceeding successfully after it took control of a district in the outskirts of the city.

"The offensive in the Sievierodonetsk direction is developing successfully," Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video statement. He said the settlement of Metyolkine, on the eastern outskirts of the city, had been taken.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to strike military targets on the territory of Ukraine," he said.

MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said it was no longer possible for Ukraine to return to its previous borders.

"The Ukraine that you and I had known, within the borders that used to be, no longer exists, and will never exist again. This is evident," the diplomat said in an interview to Sky News - Arabia, published in her Telegram channel on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 18. /TASS/: More than 690 agreements totally worth over 5.6 trillion rubles ($99.8 bln) have been concluded at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Adviser to Russian President, Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov told reporters on Saturday.

"By now 691 agreements worth 5.639 trillion rubles have been signed. Of course, we only announce figures that are not commercial classified information," he said.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday called for a new trade strategy for the Eurasian Economic Union.

"It would be appropriate and useful to engage in the development of a new trade strategy within the EAEU, given the new reality," he said at a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "Instead of countersanctions, which are unlikely to be productive, it would be advisable to exercise a more active and flexible trade policy targeting a wide range of markets in Asia and the Middle East."

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: Taking the podium at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the era of a unipolar world order has come to an end despite attempts to preserve it at all costs.

"A year and a half ago, when speaking at the Davos Forum, it was stressed again that the era of the unipolar world order was over," the Russian head of state said, noting that now he also would like to begin his address with this, "there is no getting around this."

June 17 (Reuters) - Russian journalist and Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov is auctioning his Nobel medal for Ukrainian refugees, distraught at the eradication of independent media in his country, where he says fewer and fewer people support Moscow's military campaign.

Muratov is the bear-like co-founder and long-time editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper critical of the Kremlin that was itself established in 1993 with money from former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's Nobel Peace Prize.

June 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West on Friday of colonial arrogance and trying to crush his country with "stupid" sanctions that amounted to an economic "blitzkrieg".

Addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a showcase event being held this year with almost no Western participation, he returned time and time again to the theme of Russia's sovereignty and strength in the face of what he presented as Western hostility:

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, June 17 (Xinhua) -- A detachment of Russia's Pacific Fleet has entered the Philippine Sea, engaging in anti-aircraft training activities as well as those in search of submarines of a mock enemy, said the press service of the fleet Friday.

The training also includes interaction with naval aviation crews of the Pacific Fleet.