Russia

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/: Experts of the European drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), have finished stage one of their review of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Russia and are about to be inspecting production facilities, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Tuesday.

"Stage one is over, we are waiting for reports and are getting prepared for inspections of production facilities. We are working actively on this matter," he said.

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/: The State Scientific Center of Virology and Biotechnology "Vector," located in Novosibirsk, hopes to obtain a sample of the Indian strain of the novel coronavirus soon. The strain will take about two months to examine, the center told TASS.

(Reuters) --- A Russian court imposed undisclosed restrictions on Tuesday on jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption group, while it considers a request to ban his networkas "extremist".

The Moscow court held a preliminary hearing on Monday to consider outlawing Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) as well as his separately run network of regional campaign offices. 

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: The interval between the first and second doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine can be extended from 21 days to three months, which will not affect the quality of vaccination and will make immune response stronger in some cases, Alexander Gintsburg, the director of the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed the vaccine, has said.

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: The European Union should investigate the versions of what happened at ammunition warehouses in the Czech village of Vrbetice in 2014, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference Monday.

"The EU should probably examine all these confusing comments and statements, which are not very emotionally sane I’d say, and all the other issues relating to this story, It all happened on its territory," he said.

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s remarks about amendments to the Minsk Accords and expanding the list of negotiators on the Normandy platform are an alarming sign, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said following the Ukrainian leader’s interview to The Financial Times.

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/: The summit between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden is planned for summer but its precise date and location will still have to be agreed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.

"Indeed, certain proposals have been voiced, I cannot confirm the date yet. There have been no agreements on date yet. We are indeed talking about summer months, many factors will still have to be analyzed to reach any final agreements," he said.

"No particular country [where the summit can be held] has been named," Peskov clarified.

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: Russia is prepared to take new retaliatory measures against the US if Washington keeps the escalation path, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Everything was said in our response to the latest unfriendly US steps. We announced all measures, which have been taken and are ready to take more if this escalation continues," Lavrov said.

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden are likely to hold a meeting in June, but the final decision will depend on many factors, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

According to Ushakov, signals are coming from Washington on the plans to hold the meeting of the leaders. However, he noted that there was no discussion on the summit at a working level. "Not yet [discussion at a working level] but the signal has been received, we will consider this," he said.

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/: Rostec plans to register the vaccine against the coronavirus and influenza that is currently developing, by the end of 2021 or at the beginning of 2022, Chief Executive Officer of Russia's state corporation told Sergey Brilev’s news show on Rossiya-1 on Saturday.

"Hopefully we will be able to register [the vaccine] at early as by the end of the year or probably at the beginning of next year," he said.