Russia

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The role of the Black Sea region in the world economy will continue growing as the multipolar world takes shape, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at the 45th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The Russian Armed Forces performed all their scheduled operational and combat training activities this year, including 14 international exercises, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday at a Defense Ministry board meeting attended by President Vladimir Putin.

"In 2022, all scheduled operational and combat training activities, including 14 international exercises at various levels, have been carried out," Shoigu said.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin backed the Defense Ministry’s initiative to increase the size of the Army and raise the conscription age. Speaking at the Defense Ministry’s end-of-the-year board meeting, the head of state said that the Russian authorities would not repeat mistakes of the past and would not engage in the militarization of the country and the economy.

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said that nothing good would come from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's trip to Washington on Wednesday and that Russia saw no chance of peace talks with Kyiv.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that continued Western arms supplies to Ukraine would lead to a "deepening" of the conflict - something which could backfire on Kyiv, he warned.

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has undertaken a surprise trip to Beijing and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which he said they discussed the Ukraine conflict.

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, posted a video on his Telegram channel showing him meeting Xi, smiling for photos and a meeting between Chinese and Russian officials.

Medvedev said he and Xi had discussed the two countries' "no limits" strategic partnership, as well as Ukraine. He did not provide further details.

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch of a major new Siberian gas field on Wednesday to help drive a planned surge in supply to China.

The Kovykta gas field will feed into the Power of Siberia pipeline carrying Russian gas to China. With recoverable reserves of 1.8 trillion cubic metres, it is the largest in eastern Russia.

The launch is part of Russia's strategy to shift gas exports to the east as the European Union cuts reliance on Russian energy in response to the war in Ukraine.

Dec 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the Russian army must learn from and fix the problems it had suffered in Ukraine, promising to give the military whatever it needed to prosecute a war nearing the end of its 10th month.

In a speech to defence chiefs in Moscow, Putin said there were no financial limits on what the government would provide in terms of equipment and hardware.

"We have no funding restrictions. The country and the government are providing everything that the army asks for," he said.

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/: A batch of advanced T-90M ‘Proryv’ (‘Breakthrough’) main battle tanks has arrived for an armored unit of the Central Military District in the Ukraine special military operation zone, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/: All the participants of Russia’s special military operation are heroes who are on the cutting edge of solving the most difficult and dangerous tasks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a state awards ceremony at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

"Our servicemen and soldiers, deployed in the special military operation zone, are undoubtedly on the cutting edge of solving the most difficult, responsible and dangerous tasks. <...> I sincerely believe that they are all heroes," the head of state said.

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Three people died when a blast ripped through a gas pipeline in central Russia that brings gas from Russia's Arctic through Ukraine to Europe, local officials and TASS news agency said on Tuesday.

Local officials said on the Telegram messaging app that the flow of gas through the section of the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline had been cut as of 1:50 p.m. (1050 GMT).

TASS cited local emergency services as saying three people had died and one had been injured.