Russia

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: Moscow’s move to sanction US President Joe Biden does not mean that Russia refuses to hold contacts with the United States, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"These sanctions don’t mean a refusal to hold contacts," he pointed out. "Contacts can resume if need be," Peskov added.

He also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not talked with his US counterpart after the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Tuesday sent a notice of withdrawal from the Council of Europe to the organization's Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The states of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the European Union, abusing their majority in the Council of Europe, are consistently turning this organization into an instrument of anti-Russian policy, refusing equal dialogue and all the principles on which this pan-European structure was created," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the Ukrainian situation during a phone conversation on Tuesday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The leaders exchanged views on Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and measures to evacuate civilians, said the statement.

Putin outlined his assessments of the ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations on a possible settlement of the crisis, it said.

15 March 2022; MEMO: Russia got written guarantees under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that will protect its cooperation with Iran against the recent US and EU sanctions, noting that the guarantees are included in the text of the agreement, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Lavrov said Russia causes no obstacles for the restoration of the deal.

by Assoc. Prof. Dmitry V. Shlapentokh

The West's attempt to marginalise Russia and expel it from Western economic arrangements might well work. Still, a weaker Russia would have no choice but to embrace China. And this would help China to achieve global predominance in the future.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: Russia is not creating any obstacles for the Iranian nuclear deal negotiations, and they have nothing to do with the events in Ukraine, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday at a press conference following talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

"Russia is not creating any obstacles towards reaching agreements, there is no connection between the developments in Ukraine that we talked about and the Vienna talks," he stressed.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: New talks with the United States and NATO on Russia’s proposed security guarantees may be desirable again, but it is highly unlikely to hold them in the previous format, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"Of course, the negotiations may be desirable again, because the situation has drastically changed. New details and emphasis emerged," Peskov told a news briefing in response to a question whether talks on Russia’s security guarantees should be closed or resumed.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on support measures for civil aviation, providing the opportunity of registering rights to foreign airplanes leased by Russian companies and issuing domestic airworthiness certificates to them. The document was posted on the official web portal of legal information.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 41,055 over the past day to 17,376,241, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Monday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.24%.

As many as 2,712 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 15% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in 50 regions. The situation remained unchanged in eight regions. A day earlier, 3,191 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Talks on restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program are proceeding normally, without artificial delays, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.