Russia

SIMFEROPOL, October 19. /TASS/: About 5,000 paratroopers of the Novorossiysk air assault formation went on alert and moved to training grounds in this year’s final inspection in Russia’s south, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported on Tuesday.

"Units of the Novorossiysk Guards Mountain Air Assault Formation went on alert and moved to practice ranges in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Regions and in the Republic of Crimea where they began accomplishing combat training assignments," the ministry said in a statement.

SOCHI, October 19. /TASS/: NATO’s reaction to Russia’s decision to suspend the work of diplomatic missions in Brussels and in Moscow demonstrates that the Alliance understands its losing position and reveals the lack of diplomatic culture, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu told TASS earlier that NATO regrets Russia’s decision to suspend diplomatic missions in Brussels and in Moscow but remains open for dialogue, including through the Russian-NATO Council, at the same time continuing its policy of containing Russia.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, October 19. /TASS/: Special approaches to support investments in the development of public transport should be developed in Russia to prevent the withdrawal of such funds to other sectors and abroad, as it happened in the housing and utilities sector, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Russia will not officially recognise the Taliban for now and wants the Islamist group to make good on promises it made when it came to power in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Lavrov was speaking in southern Russia on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Valdai Discussion Club and ahead of talks in Moscow on Wednesday which will be attended by a Taliban delegation.

He said the group's promises included, in particular, those on political and ethnic inclusivity in the make-up of the government.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: Russia registered cyberattacks from the US, Ukraine, and Germany, among other places, during the State Duma Elections days, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in an interview for TASS.

"We have indeed registered a spike in interference on state informational systems during the preparation and the process of the September 2021 voting days. We registered cyberattacks at the Central Elections Commissions servers during the voting days from US, Ukrainian and German address space, among other places," Syromolotov noted.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: Foreign investors are invited to participate in the jubilee St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to be held on June 15-18, 2022, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday at the Foreign Investment Advisory Council’s meeting.

"Certainly, our communication is not limited to the Advisory Council’s framework. I would like to take an opportunity and invite you, dear participants in today’s meeting, and your colleagues, business partners, in early summer of the next year to our northern capital, St. Petersburg," Mishustin said.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: An envoy from a NATO member state in Moscow may maintain urgent contacts with the Russian side on the bloc’s behalf, following Russia’s tit-for-tat response to the alliance’s decision to withdraw the accreditation of eight Russian diplomats, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a statement on Monday.

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it would halt the activities of its diplomatic mission to NATO after the Western military alliance expelled eight Russians saying they were spies.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said staff at NATO's military mission in Moscow would be stripped of their accreditation from Nov. 1, and the alliance's information office in the Russian capital would be shuttered.

"If NATO members have any urgent matters, they can contact our ambassador in Belgium on these questions," Lavrov told a news conference.

MOSCOW, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced Monday that Moscow has decided to suspend the operation of the Russian Permanent Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in retaliation for the alliance's "unfriendly actions."

Russia's ambassador to Belgium will be authorized for emergency contacts with the NATO headquarters, while an ambassador of the NATO member states in Moscow can perform similar functions, the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister said Monday that the country is suspending its mission to NATO.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the move is in response to last week’s expulsion by NATO of eight members of Russia’s mission to the military alliance.

NATO said that they were secretly working as intelligence officers and halved the size of Moscow’s team able to work at its headquarters. Lavrov also announced that NATO’s military liaison and information offices in Moscow would be closed.