Russia

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki plans to pay a working visit to Moscow in the near future, so the parties are discussing dates, Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS.

"The visit will take place indeed. We have agreed with the Russian Foreign Ministry that he should come to Moscow at the end of this month, but this will be further discussed after [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov comes back from New York," the diplomat said in response to a corresponding question.

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/: Russia monitored the US’ meeting with Central Asian countries on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, but Moscow’s main focus remains to continue its own dialogue with the states of the region, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: There are no meetings with US officials on the itinerary of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Soloviev Live TV channel.

"No, our itinerary does not include any meetings [with the US side]," Zakharova said, replying to a question on the matter.

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: Russia has introduced restrictions on the export of gasoline and diesel fuel from September 21, the press service of the government reported on Thursday.

According to the government decree to that effect, the restrictions are temporary and begin on September 21 "from the date of its official publication," but the document does not specify the expiration date of the restrictions.

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has apologized and expressed deep condolences over the death of the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh on September 20, the Kremlin press service reported.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held a telephone conversation at the initiative of the Azerbaijani side," the press service said.

VELIKY NOVGOROD, September 21. /TASS/: The Direct Line with Russian President Vladimir Putin may take place in some format before the end of the year, but its exact date has still not been set, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"No, not yet. We expect to have it in some format by the end of the year," he said when asked about the prospects of holding the traditional Direct Line question-and-answer session.

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/: Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has accused the Anglo-Saxons of unleashing genocide against the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.

"Having brought a neo-Nazi terrorist regime to power in Ukraine as a result of a bloody coup, the Anglo-Saxons have unleashed genocide against the Russian population. Thus, since 2014, the population of Donbass, which is mostly Russian, has been subjected to violence and physical destruction," he said, answering the reporters’ questions.

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin never allows himself to stoop to insults, Kremlin Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the chances of a stern response to US President Joe Biden who had described Putin as a "dictator."

"You know that our president never stoops to this - to the level of personal insults against his colleagues. He certainly has his own opinion about this style of rhetoric. But the president, I repeat again, has never stooped to this and will not do so," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: Russian peacekeepers will not take part in the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on anyone's side, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev said.

"Those who expect this [peacekeeping] contingent to take any action outside its peacekeeping mandate will be wrong. Neither Russia nor the Russian peacekeeping contingent has the right to, or is going to take part in the hostilities on anyone's side, or try to resolve the issues of the status, shift the balance in anyone's favor," he said on Telegram.

MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Su-34 jet crashed in the country's Voronezh region Wednesday during a scheduled training flight, Russia's Tass news agency reported, citing the defense ministry.

The aircraft crashed at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT). The two crew members onboard were ejected safely, the report said.

The jet fell far from any populated areas, and there was no destruction on the ground. The aircraft was not carrying ammunition. The report said the preliminary cause of the crash could be a technical failure.