Russia

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: Moscow plans to protest against violations of freedom of expression in the United States, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Roissiya-1's Voskresny Vecher (Sunday Evening) with Vladimir Solovyov show.

"Believe me, we have plans," she said, when asked whether it was the time to protest against violations of freedom of expression in the US. "We are making preparations," Zakharova added.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: Russia will expect the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden to give concrete proposals on the extension of the New START Treaty that expires on February 1, 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

He noted that the Biden administration was likely to accept agreement with Russia and China in those spheres where it would be in the United States’ interests and where they would not be able to do without dialogue with Moscow and Beijing.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: The latest statements by Western politicians on the return of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny to Moscow seek to distract their populations from the deep crises that their countries are currently mired in, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference on the outcomes of Russian diplomacy in 2020.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Russia over the past 24 hours has increased by 22,857, bringing the total to 3,591,066, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Monday.

The daily growth was the lowest since January 13 when 22,850 infections were detected. On Sunday, January 17, the crisis center reported 23,586 new infections.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was arrested Sunday at a Moscow airport as he tried to enter the country from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

Navalny’s detention at passport control in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport was widely expected because Russia’s prisons service said he had violated parole terms from a suspended sentence on a 2014 embezzlement conviction.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 weekly case tally slightly exceeded the previous week’s figures, however, the number of active cases declined for the first time since the summer, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

On January 11-17, the crisis center reported 166,255 new COVID-19 cases, only 0.7% more than the week before, when 165,167 cases were confirmed.

A total of 181,542 coronavirus patients recovered, which is almost 13.5% more than the previous week.

TASS, January 17: The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences may enter civilian circulation in March 2021, the Center’s Deputy Director General for Project Activities and Innovation Konstantin Chernov told Vesti Nedeli news program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Our coronavirus vaccine can enter civilian circulation probably around March," he said.

16 Jan 2021; MEMO: At a press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow hopes that the US will keep its promise and close Guantanamo Bay.

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/: The techniques previously used by Washington for democratization of other countries have boomeranged on the United States, the deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote in his op-ed published by tass.com.

"The techniques previously used by Washington for democratization of other countries backfired. The cold civil war that had been raging in the US for a few months reached its climax," he said.

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus cases in Russia per day increased by 24,092. The total number of cases reached 3,544,623, the operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus told reporters on Saturday.

In relative terms, according to the headquarters, the increase in new cases does not exceed 0.7%.

The lowest growth rates were recorded per day in the Republic of Tyva (0.2%), Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Jewish Autonomous District (0.3%), Magadan Region, Kemerovo Region, Chukotka Autonomous District and Ingushetia (0.4%).