Russia

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it urgently needed a response from the United States on its sweeping security demands and again warned of a possible Russian military response unless it saw political action to assuage its concerns.

Moscow, which has unnerved the West with a troop buildup near Ukraine, last week unveiled a wish list of security proposals it wants to negotiate, including a promise NATO would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. 

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/: Russia will engage in creating counter threats if NATO turns down the Russian proposals for security guarantees, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Solovyov Live YouTube channel on Saturday.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: The number of the fatalities from COVID-19 in Russia surged by 1,023 in the last 24 hours versus 1,076 a day earlier to 297,203 deaths, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Sunday. This figure hit a record low since October 19, 2021.

The conditional mortality (the final one can be determined only after the end of the pandemic) stands at 2.91%, according to the crisis center.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: The World Health Organization (WHO) will likely approve the Russian Sputnik V jab in a few months, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Sunday.

"I am totally convinced that in a few months, the WHO is likely to recognize Sputnik V, and then it will also be possible to develop [the talks] with Europe in this direction," the Kremlin spokesman noted.

KIROV, December 18. /TASS/: The Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences has received about 150 requests for deliveries of the CoviVac vaccine against coronavirus, the Center’s Director Aydar Ishmukhametov said after the official launch of the vaccine’s production at the Nanolek factory in the Kirov Region.

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 27,434 per day to 10,186,823, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus told reporters on Saturday.

Thus, seven days in a row Russia reported less than 30,000 cases.

In relative terms, the increase in the number of cases was 0.27%.

In particular, 2,283 new cases were detected in Moscow per day, in St. Petersburg - 1,997, in the Moscow region - 1,683, in the Krasnodar region - 749, in Krasnoyarsk - 655, in Perm - 642.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian military transport planes on Saturday delivered a shipment of humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan and flew back 200 Russians, Afghan students and others, the defense ministry said.

The ministry said that three Il-76 cargo planes will make stopovers in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan before flying to Moscow. It said the planes were carrying citizens of Russia and Kyrgyzstan who wanted to leave Afghanistan, and Afghan students enlisted in Russian universities.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia may take unspecified new measures to ensure its security if the U.S. and its allies continue to take provocative action and ignore Moscow’s demand for guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, a senior diplomat said Saturday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused Western allies of continuously pushing the envelope in relations with Russia, and warned that Moscow could also up the ante if the West doesn’t treat its demands seriously.

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/: Russia recorded 27,743 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily number since October 8, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Friday. The total number of cases has reached 10,159,389.

Russia’s coronavirus growth rate was 0.27%.

In particular, 2,755 cases were reported in Moscow in the past day, 1,984 in St. Petersburg, 1,452 in the Moscow region, 677 in the Krasnoyarsk region, 667 in the Nizhny Novgorod region and 652 in the Perm region.

There are currently 950,060 active coronavirus cases in Russia.

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/: The Bank of Russia raised its key rate for the seventh time in a row, this time by 1 percentage point to 8.5% per annum, the regulator reported following a meeting of the Board of Directors.