Russia

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: The Russian side emphasizes the need to unlock Afghanistan’s national assets illegally held by Washington, Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Ivan Nechaev told a press briefing on Wednesday.

"On our part, we again drew attention to the need to unlock the national assets [of Afghanistan]," the Russian diplomat said, commenting on the results of the international conference on Afghanistan held in Tashkent on July 26.

MOSCOW, July 27 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces on July 24 had destroyed more than 100 U.S.-made HIMARS rockets in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region.

Reuters was unable to independently verify battlefield accounts from either side.

Russia has previously said it has destroyed several HIMARS systems supplied to Ukraine by the West, claims denied by Kyiv.

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner testified Wednesday at her drug trial in Russia that a language interpreter translated only a fraction of what was said during her questioning and officials instructed her to sign documents without providing an explanation.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February. She acknowledged in court earlier this month that she had vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage when she arrived in Russia but contends she had no criminal intent and packed the cartridges inadvertently.

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/: The Russian Security Council’s Scientific Board discussed Moscow’s strategy towards the West, taking into account national security interests and the results of NATO’s Madrid summit in June, the Security Council’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"Experts of Russia’s Security Council pointed to mounting NATO efforts aimed at creating direct military threats to Russia," the press office said in a statement following a meeting of the Security Council’s group on global problems and international security.

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/: ATMs in Cuba began to accept Russia’s Mir payment cards, Juan Carlos Escalona, adviser to the embassy of the republic on tourism, told the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) on Tuesday. He said that until the end of 2022 they will be accepted at all sale outlets in the country.

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/: The Kremlin has confirmed that talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take place in Sochi on August 5.

"Yes," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question by TASS as to whether such a meeting is planned.

Earlier on Tuesday, the administration of the Turkish leader said that Erdogan was planning to come to Sochi on August 5 on a one-day visit for a meeting with Putin. According to Ankara, it is planned to discuss bilateral and regional issues.

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/: Only a part of Russia’s armed forces is involved in its special military operation in Ukraine and the number of troops engaged is sufficient to fulfill the tasks set forth by the commander-in-chief, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday with regards to the plans to hold the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) strategic command and staff exercise.

MOSCOW, July 26 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it believes former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in Moscow, and did not rule out possible contact with him.

"As far as we know, he is in Moscow," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if the Kremlin was aware of reports that Schroeder had travelled to Moscow on Tuesday.

"There is no meeting as such, but we do not rule out possible contact," Peskov added.

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — The drug trial of American basketball star Brittney Griner in a Russian court focused Tuesday on testimony that cannabis, while illegal in Russia, is regarded in other countries as having legitimate medicinal use.

Griner has acknowledged that she was carrying vape canisters containing cannabis oil when she was arrested in February at a Moscow airport, but she contends that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage inadvertently because of hasty packing.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s new space chief said Tuesday amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Yuri Borisov, appointed this month to lead the state space agency, Roscosmos, said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that Russia will fulfill its obligations to its partners before it leaves.