Russia

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Moscow intends to take part in the upcoming Astana group’s foreign ministers meeting on Syria initiated by Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an address to participants in the Eleventh Middle East Conference hosted by the Valdai International Discussion Club. His address was read out by Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: The Munich Security Conference, instead of discussing its core subject, indulged in disinformation campaigns and fabricating fakes, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on television on Monday.

"The Munich Security Conference turned out to be another in a series of platforms employed [for fabricating groundless charges]. Generally speaking, its mission is to address political security issues, while in reality it has been indulging in disinformation attacks, spreading fakes and demonstrating its own imbecility," Zakharova said.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Threats to Russia’s security will increase significantly in the event of Ukraine's admission to NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"If Russia faces such a threat as Ukraine’s admission to the North Atlantic Alliance, to NATO, then the threats to our country will increase many times," Putin said and recalled Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty "from which it is clear that all the countries of the alliance must fight on the side of one of their members if one Ally is considered as under attack."

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/: A Russian senior lawmaker said on Sunday he supports Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s principled position on settling regional conflicts by political and diplomats means.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, February 20. /TASS/: The Russian authorities are ready to vaccinate refugees arriving from Donbass if necessary, Acting Minister of Emergency Situations of Russia Alexander Chupriyan told reporters on Sunday.

"The Russian side is ready to carry out vaccination among the arrived population," he said.

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/: The number of people who have recovered after coronavirus in Russia increased over the day by 147,296 against 191,098 the day before. In total, 12,365,238 patients recovered, the federal operational headquarters for combating coronavirus told reporters on Sunday.

The share of discharged patients, according to the headquarters, increased to 80.45% of the total number of cases.

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/: The United States and NATO must give a concrete and substantive response to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a telephone conversation with his French counterpart. Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday.

Putin "once again stressed the necessity for the United States and NATO to take Russia’s demands on ensuring security guarantees seriously and to respond to them in a concrete and substantive manner," the Kremlin said after their phone call.

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian will hold a phone call on Monday, the TASS news agency quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the need to step up the search for diplomatic solutions to the escalating crisis in eastern Ukraine in a phone call on earlier Sunday.

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Repeated Western predictions of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are provocative and may have adverse consequences, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday he was convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a decision to invade Ukraine, and though there was still room for diplomacy, he expected Russia to move on the country in the coming days. Russia has repeatedly denied preparing to invade Ukraine. 

Putin takes no notice of such Western statements, Peskov told Rossiya 1 state TV.

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the need to step up the search for diplomatic solutions to the escalating crisis in eastern Ukraine in a phone call on Sunday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"In view of the urgency of the situation, the Presidents acknowledged the need to intensify the search for solutions through diplomatic means via the foreign ministries and political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format," the Kremlin said in a statement.