Russia

MOSCOW/BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has faced accusations of weak leadership in the Ukraine crisis and of being too soft on Russia, but his unexpectedly combative stance in talks in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin has earned him plaudits.

Political pundits wondered how the mild-mannered Scholz, who took office in December, would fare on Tuesday stepping into "the lion's den".

MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday underlined the need to avoid a war over Ukraine and to settle the crisis via diplomatic efforts.

"Regarding whether we want this (war), of course we don't. This is why we have put forward proposals for the start of a negotiation process in a bid to reach an agreement ensuring equal security for everyone," Putin said during a press conference with Scholz following their talks in the Kremlin.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Wednesday it was returning more troops and weapons to bases, yet another gesture apparently aimed at easing fears it is planning to invade Ukraine, even as the U.S. said the threat of an attack remained.

Russia has massed about 150,000 troops east, north and south of Ukraine, sparking Western concerns it was planning an assault. There have been no indications of a significant withdrawal of those forces, but this week has seen a handful of gestures from Moscow that offered hope that Europe might avoid war following weeks of escalating East-West tensions.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 166,631 over the past day to 14,480,596, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Tuesday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 1.16%.

As many as 21,833 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Russia in the past day, up 108.9% from 10,451 a day earlier. Meanwhile, in 80 regions the number of those hospitalized has increased, while in 5 regions the number has decreased, according to the crisis center.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: The State Duma approved a resolution at its session on Tuesday to forward to the Russian president a draft appeal by the lower house of Russia’s parliament as proposed by the Communist faction on recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).

The decision was supported by 351 lawmakers, with 16 votes against it and one abstention. The State Duma rejected a competing draft resolution on forwarding the appeal to the Foreign Ministry for consultations. This motion gained only 310 votes during the ranked voting.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia cannot turn a blind eye on the fact that the United States and NATO are interpreting the principle of indivisible security "quite freely and for their own benefit," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after talks with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"Russia cannot turn a blind eye on how the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance are interpreting, quite freely and for their own benefit, the key principles of equal and indivisible security, which are committed to paper in many European documents," he said.

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Russia has deployed MiG-31K fighter jets with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and long-range Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bombers to its air base in Syria for naval exercises, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the defence ministry.

The aircraft dispatched to Russia's Hmeimim air base will take part in exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a surge of Russian military activity amid a standoff with the West over Ukraine and security in Europe.

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia was prepared to continue dialogue on missiles and other security issues with the West, speaking in Moscow with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Tensions in Europe have run high in recent weeks on Western fears Russia may invade neighbouring Ukraine, which Moscow denied is its intention. Russia said on Tuesday some of its troops were returning to base after exercises near Ukraine

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia does not want a war in Europe, but described the situation in east Ukraine's breakaway regions as "genocide" and called for the conflict there to be resolved through the Minsk peace progress.

At a joint news conference after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Putin said Russia had decided to partially withdraw troops from near Ukraine and saw some room for further discussion with the West on Moscow's security demands.

MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Part of the armed forces participating in joint drills with Belarus will be pulled back, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

When the combat training activities are completed, the Russian troops, as always, will return to their locations of permanent deployment, the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

The units of the Southern and Western Military Districts that have already completed their tasks are packing up and will leave for their garrisons on Tuesday, he added.