Russia

MOSCOW, July 29 (Reuters) - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed on Thursday that Russian border outposts be stationed along the length of Armenia's border with Azerbaijan after a rise in tensions between Yerevan and Baku.

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other earlier on Thursday of flouting a Russian-backed ceasefire that both sides had accepted the previous day to halt deadly clashes over their joint border, which Yerevan wants demarcated.

NOVO-OGAREVO, July 28. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the inauguration ceremony for the start of railway traffic through the second Baikal tunnel on Wednesday via a video link.

Builders, operations specialists and executives of Russian Railways and USK Most dealing with the facility construction took part in the inauguration ceremony.

CEO of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov reported that all systems were up and running and requested to start the traffic. "You have my permission," the President replied.

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: Russia is concerned over the activity of US special services on its territory, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, declining to compare the successes of both countries’ intelligence agencies. 

"The US special services are active on our territory and this, of course, is a cause of concern," Peskov said.

"This has been evident for a long time, and it is ongoing," the Kremlin spokesman said.

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is by now 99% complete, the Fortuna pipe-laying barge is working at the final section, a representative with Nord Stream 2 AG, the project’s operator, told TASS. 

Meanwhile, the Akademik Chersky pipe-laying vessel has fully completed the planned work.

NOVO-OGAREVO, July 27. /TASS/: Issuing more dollars to cover the budget deficit in the United States affects the entire world economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, opening a meeting on economic issues on Tuesday. 

According to him, inflation in the United States has exceeded 5% with a target of about 2%, and the United States has been making up a budget with a 15% deficit for two years in a row.

"So they cover this deficit at the expense of what? At the expense of the issue [of the dollar]. This is where inflation comes from," Putin said.

MOSCOW, July 27./TASS/: Russia’s regions will never be a bargaining chip with other countries, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

"Of course, the Russian regions cannot and will never be up for bargain, this is out of the question," the Kremlin spokesman asserted. That said, the spokesman commented on a statement from Turkish Professor Hasan Unal, who suggested that Moscow and Ankara could agree on the status of Crimea if Russia recognized the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an independent state.

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: Moscow and Washington are, to some degree, implementing the agreements they reached at a summit held in Geneva in June, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/: Russia has initiated a draft UN convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, the press service of the Russian prosecutor general’s office told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/: The Project 09852 special-purpose nuclear-powered submarine Belgorod has returned from its first deployment to the sea in shipbuilders’ sea trials, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS on Monday.

"On July 24, the nuclear-powered submarine Belgorod returned from its first deployment to the White Sea for shipbuilders’ sea trials. The second deployment to the sea is scheduled for coming days," the source said.

TASS has no official comment yet from the press service of the Sevmash Shipyard where the submarine is being built.

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/: The Boeing-737 plane operated by Belavia, which was en route from Minsk to Antalya, successfully landed at Moscow Domodedovo Airport after sending an emergency signal, an aviation source informed TASS.

"The Belavia flight B29215 en route from Minsk to Antalya has landed successfully at Domodedovo," the source said.

The source also informed TASS that the plane landed at Domodedovo with only one functioning engine.