Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday discussed prospects for working together on climate change, protecting the environment and green energy, the Kremlin said.

In a readout of their telephone call, the Kremlin said the Saudi prince outlined initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the Middle East.

Putin spoke of Russian efforts to protect the environment, the Kremlin said.

MOSCOW, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday that he is not anticipating "bright prospects" for Russia-U.S. relations.

The bilateral ties are in the midst of a deep crisis, which has grown partly due to the reluctance of the U.S. Joe Biden administration to solve problems with Moscow, Antonov said at a joint meeting of the international and defense committees of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/: Ruselectronics Group (part of the state tech corporation Rostec) will launch the serial production of the latest Magister-SV automated battlefield air defense control system in 2021, the Rostec press office announced on Wednesday.

"The new unified module is designated to reconnoiter the airspace using external and inbuilt reconnaissance capabilities and coordinating an air defense battle. The system has passed state trials and has been adopted for supplies to the Russian Army," Rostec said.

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/: Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology has joined the top five most mentioned inoculations among foreign mass media outlets during the year, according to a ranking by LexisNexis specially prepared for TASS.

The Comirnaty jab developed jointly by the renowned American multinational drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech topped the ranking.

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/: Russia’s Federation Council (parliament's upper house) at its plenary meeting on Wednesday passed a law enabling President Vladimir Putin to contest the presidency again.

A number of the law’s provisions was formulated on the basis of amendments to the Constitution, such as a restriction on the number of presidential terms for one person. It is applied to the incumbent head of state regardless of his previous presidencies. This rule allows the current head of state to hold this position for two more terms.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was worried by the situation in eastern Ukraine, fearing the Ukrainian side could do something that would restart a civil war there.

President Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday accused Ukraine of provoking armed confrontation with pro-Russian separatists and failing to honour earlier agreements over its wartorn east, during a telephone call with France and Germany’s leaders.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: Russian shipbuilders will upgrade the Pacific Fleet’s Project 1155 large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Vinogradov to a frigate by 2025 to boost its strike capabilities with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, following the example of the same-type warship Marshal Shaposhnikov, a source in the defense industry told TASS on Tuesday.

"The repairs and upgrade of the large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Vinogradov are expected to begin in 2021 and the warship will rejoin the Fleet in 2024-2025," the source said.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: Russia's coronavirus infection rates may indicate a third wave of the pandemic, Deputy Health Minister Tatyana Semenova said at a conference dubbed Medical Education Week on Tuesday.

"The second coronavirus wave included early 2021 and unfortunately, the current infection rates and disease progression make it possible to talk about a third wave," she pointed out.

MOSCOW, March 30./TASS/: Arrangements for contact between Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are underway, but the mode of contact will be determined later, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/: The overwhelming majority of Russians do not agree with the worldview of Russian blogger Alexey Navalny, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is certain.

He earlier told reporters that his worldview is different and atypical to that of Navalny. When speaking to the press on Tuesday, Peskov was asked to clarify what the difference is, and he responded, "It is totally different from mine."

"And I have the right to completely disagree with it. And, in fact, most residents of our countries disagree with this worldview," Peskov stressed.