Russia

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russian military forces and hardware began arriving in ex-Soviet Belarus for joint drills starting in February, Minsk said on Monday, amid soaring tensions between East and West over Ukraine.

The "Allied Resolve" exercises will be held near Belarus's western rim, the borders of NATO members Poland and Lithuania, and its southern flank with Ukraine, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said.

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russia and Belarus will hold joint military drills in February, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday, amid soaring tensions between East and West over Ukraine.

Russia, a close ally of Belarus, has worried the West and Kyiv with a troop build-up near Ukraine's borders and a barrage of threatening rhetoric, stirring fears that it plans to invade. 

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Monday reported a sharp spike in new coronavirus cases, apparently driven by the rapid spread of the omicron variant health officials warned about last week.

The country’s state coronavirus task force registered 30,726 new infections over the last 24 hours, which is twice as many as 15,830 just a week ago and the highest daily tally since early December. The task force has also reported 670 deaths.

16 Jan 2022; MEMO: President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi for talks in Moscow next week as Russia tries to help salvage a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, Reuters reported on Sunday quoting the state television channel Rossiya-1.

Rossiya-1 did not disclose when precisely the meeting between the two leaders would take place, nor the issues they would discuss.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: All the ten planes with Russian peacekeepers from the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) peacekeeping contingent arrived in Ivanovo in central Russia from Kazakhstan, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Saturday.

"All the ten planes with the Russian peacekeepers from the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces have arrived at the Severny aerodrome (Ivanovo) from Kazakhstan," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Neither Gazprom nor Russia are to blame for the energy crisis in Europe, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Of course, I was somewhat surprised by the statement of the head of such a respected international organization as the IEA, which is trying to shift the problems that European consumers have today. Of course, neither Gazprom nor Russia, in general, are at fault here," he said.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 27,179 in the past day to 10,774,304, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Saturday.

New coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 0.25% in the past 24 hours, registering the largest number since December 19, 2021, the crisis center reported.

The number of active cases, i.e. patients currently undergoing medical treatment from the novel coronavirus dropped to 617,786, the latest figures suggest.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Russia knows how to ensure its security and is not going to endlessly wait for some changes and West’s promises, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a press conference on Friday.

According to the top diplomat, NATO is trying to dictate its will to everyone. "We know and are able to safeguard our security in any case, and I can assure you that we are not going to endlessly wait for some changes and promises," Lavrov said.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Preparations for the Russia-China summit which will take place in Beijing on February 4, on the opening day of the Winter Olympics, are at full speed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on the results of Russia’s diplomatic activities in 2021 on Friday.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Dmitry Sotnikov’s crew from Russia’s Kamaz-Master Team won the 2022 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in the trucks category after winning Stage 12, the final round of the legendary rally race, on Friday.

The 44th Dakar Rally was held across the territory of Saudi Arabia between January 2 and 14, 2022 and consisted of 12 stages.

Defending Champion Sotnikov and his crew of Ruslan Akhmadeyev and Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov clocked the 164-kilometer stretch of the final stage in 1 hour 42 minutes and 41 seconds.