Russia

MOSCOW, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that eight officials from the European Union (EU)'s bodies and member countries are banned from entering Russia in retaliation.

The sanctioned figures include President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, and European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova.

KAZAN, April 30. /TASS/: The Caribbean island nation is interested in holding talks with member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on expanding air service, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on Friday in his video address to participants of the EAEU Intergovernmental Council.

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/: Turkey has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use in the republic, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) informs.

"The Russian Direct Investment Fund announces the registration of the Russian coronavirus vaccine "Sputnik V" by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey. Registration was carried out within the emergency use authorization (EUA) procedure. Turkey has become the 63rd country to approve the use of Sputnik V," the fund stated.

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin consider Vienna as a potential venue for a Russian-US summit, according to the Kremlin press service, reporting on the outcome of the phone conversation between Putin and Kurz on Friday.

"The federal chancellor offered to consider Vienna as a venue for a potential Russian-US summit, if there is an agreement to hold it," the Kremlin revealed.

(Reuters) --- The Kremlin accused Washington on Friday of fuelling tension with "unfriendly actions" after the U.S. embassy in Moscow said it was cutting staff and stopping processing visas for most Russians.

The embassy said it was cutting consular staff by 75% and that from May 12 it would stop processing non-immigrant visas for non-diplomatic travel after a new Russian law imposed limits on how many local staff can work at foreign diplomatic missions. 

(Reuters) --- Russia's financial monitoring agency said on Friday it had added jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's network of regional campaign offices to a list of organisations involved in "terrorism and extremism".

Allies of Navalny said on Thursday they were disbanding the network as the authorities sought to ban them.

A Moscow court is also considering whether to declare Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) "extremist", a ruling that would give Russian authorities the power to jail activists and freeze bank accounts.

30 Apr 2021; MEMO: Recent reports about the suspension of an agreement between Russia and Sudan on establishing a naval base in the African state are "baseless", the Russian embassy in Khartoum announced yesterday.

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/: Turkey’s sovereign course causes the concern of the United States and NATO and thus they come up with harsh statements against Ankara, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a live broadcast of the Big Game program on TV Channel One on Thursday.

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/: Over 300,000 troops and 35,000 weapon systems participated in combat readiness inspections across Russia, Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday.

"Overall, the inspections involved more than 300,000 personnel and 35,000 items of armament, military and special hardware along with 180 warships and vessels and about 900 aircraft, including 15 long-range and 40 military transport planes," the General Staff chief specified.

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/: Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against blogger Alexey Navalny over the creation of an NGO infringing on people’s rights, a law enforcement source told TASS.

"A new criminal case has been opened against Alexey Navalny under Article 239 of the Russian Criminal Code (the creation of a non-profit organization infringing on people’s identity and rights). If found guilty, he could face up to three years in prison. Other defendants in the case include Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov," the source said.