Russia

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago as the demise of what he called "historical Russia" and said the economic crisis that followed was so bad he was forced to moonlight as a taxi driver.

Putin's comments, released by state TV on Sunday, are likely to further fuel speculation about his foreign policy intentions among critics, who accuse him of planning to recreate the Soviet Union and of contemplating an attack on Ukraine, a notion the Kremlin has dismissed as fear-mongering.

MOSCOW, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it may be forced to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe in response to what it sees as NATO's plans to do the same.

The warning from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov raised the risk of a new arms build-up on the continent, with East-West tensions at their worst since the Cold War ended three decades ago.

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/: Moscow is calling on NATO countries to take the topic of mutual security guarantees as seriously as possible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at an online briefing on Friday.

"We are embarking along this path, and this path must be traversed quickly. An assessment of the chances of obtaining security assurances, which we would perceive as security assurances, rather than mere empty promises and meaningless vague language, is premature and ill-timed," he said.

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/: The Russian government has fully blocked entry to Russia for foreigners from nine African countries and Hong Kong due to the spread of the coronavirus infection, canceling the earlier exceptions for the holders of diplomatic passports and business visas, as well as for some other categories. A corresponding decree, signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, was published on Friday.

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 30,288 to 9,986,967 in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Saturday.

Russia’s coronavirus growth rate was 0.3%.

In particular, 2,045 cases were reported in St. Petersburg in the past day, 1,833 in the Moscow region, 733 in the Samara region, 721 in the Krasnodar region and 719 in the Krasnoyarsk region.

There are currently 988,652 active coronavirus cases in Russia.

Russia’s coronavirus recoveries rose by 36,446 to 8,709,964 in the past 24 hours.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, December 10. /TASS/: Ukraine did express the intention to join an association of countries in the Eurasian space when such plans were still being discussed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a videoconference of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on Friday.

Putin recalled that Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev was the brain-father of such an association.

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/: Russia’s initiative on reciprocal moratoriums on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe is still in effect and Western nations should not brush that off, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday.

"As a first step, I invite [our] NATO colleagues to tackle the issue of how to make Russia’s unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such systems bilateral, mutual and verifiable. Our proposals are on the table, please don’t shrug them off," he said.

YEKATERINBURG, December 10. /TASS/: Counter-terror squads of Russia’s 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan thwarted a subversive attack by notional terrorists on Russian military facilities during special drills, the press office of the Central Military District reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/: Moscow is calling on NATO countries to take the topic of mutual security guarantees as seriously as possible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at an online briefing on Friday.

"We are embarking along this path, and this path must be traversed quickly. An assessment of the chances of obtaining security assurances, which we would perceive as security assurances, rather than mere empty promises and meaningless vague language, is premature and ill-timed," he said.

MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Russia demanded on Friday that NATO rescind a 2008 commitment to Ukraine and Georgia that they would one day become members and said the alliance should promise not to deploy weapons in countries bordering Russia that could threaten its security.

The demands were spelt out by the Russian foreign ministry in its fullest statement yet on the security guarantees that President Vladimir Putin says he wants to obtain from the United States and its allies.