Russia

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/: The Bank of Russia believes that it is reasonable to convert accumulated funds of state-owned companies to different currencies, the regulator said on its website.

"It is feasible for nonfinancial organizations to convert accumulated funds in currencies of unfriendly states to other currencies. The release of relevant directives (recommendations) by the Russian government will be justified in respect of companies with the government participation," the Central Bank said.

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — An emotional Brittney Griner apologized in a Russian court Thursday as her drug possession trial drew to a close, and a prosecutor urged that the American basketball star be convicted and sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in a case that reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russian diplomacy.

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/: Moscow welcomes the decision by the parties to the Yemen conflict to extend a ceasefire for another two months, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"This creates an opportunity to further stabilize the situation in the country and facilitates movement to full-fledged talks between political forces involved in the Yemen conflict," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/: One person was killed in a major fire that engulfed the warehouse of the Ozon online retailer in Istra outside Moscow, the Center for Disaster Medicine told TASS on Wednesday.

"According to updated information, one person was killed and 13 more were injured," the spokesperson said.

The fire is being extinguished by 150 firefighters, three helicopters and more than 30 pieces of equipment. According to latest reports, the blaze has spread to 50,000 square meters.

MOSCOW, Aug 3 (NNN-TASS) — Russia backs the Myanmar junta’s efforts to “stabilise” the crisis-wracked country, its foreign minister said on Wednesday during talks with top generals, according to Russian state media.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the military’s power grab last year, with more than 2,100 people killed in a crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitor.

Aug 2 (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Tuesday denied Russian claims that the country had destroyed six U.S.-made HIMARS missile systems since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to Interfax, said on Tuesday that Russia had destroyed the HIMARS after Moscow deployed tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24.

"We are aware of these latest claims by Minister Shoigu and they are again patently false," Todd Breasseale, the Pentagon's acting spokesman, said.

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Myanmar on August 3 for talks with the country’s top diplomat Wunna Maung Lwin, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Tuesday.

"On August 3, the Russian top diplomat will make a working visit to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. He is expected to hold talks with the country’s foreign minister and meet with Myanmar’s leadership," she noted.

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: The Russian Supreme Court has designated the Ukrainian Azov nationalist battalion as a terrorist organization and outlawed its activities in Russia, TASS reports.

"To satisfy the administrative motion of the prosecutor general and to recognize the Ukrainian paramilitary unit Azov as a terrorist organization, banning its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation," the judge read out the decision.

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: Russia’s Arkady Dvorkovich, who is the reigning president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), will certainly be reelected for another term at the helm of the world’s governing body of chess, Anatoly Karpov, the 12th World Chess Champion, told TASS on Tuesday.

"Dvorkovich will be reelected. The only obstacle is his possible inclusion in the list of sanctions. In this case, it will be over and he will be unable to exercise his powers," Karpov said in an interview with TASS.

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The Kremlin told the United States on Tuesday that time was running out to negotiate a replacement for the "New START" nuclear arms reduction treaty and that if it expired in 2026 without a replacement then global security would be weakened.

The New START Treaty, struck in 2011, obliged the United States and Russia to limit deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments.