Europe

NEW DELHI, September 13. /TASS corr. Evgeny Pakhomov/. Washington’s policy concerning Russia threatens to destabilize international relations, Indian expert in the sphere of international relations Kanwal Sibal told TASS on Thursday. Sibal served as India’s Foreign Secretary and was India’s ambassador to several countries, including Russia (in the years 2004-2007).

MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Russia and India are on track to bring the trade turnover to $30 bln in coming years, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said at a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Moscow.

"Over the past years bilateral trade has reached solid growth rates, which if maintained will help us hit the target of $30 bln in coming years," Borisov said.

However, that is a modest result compared with Russia-China trade turnover that is going to "breach the $100 bln level in 2018," he added.

THE HAGUE, September 12. /TASS/. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) can and should play an important role to thwart the staging of a false flag ‘chemical attack’ provocation in Syria’s Idlib, Russian Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin told reporters on Wednesday.

IRKUTSK, September 12. /TASS/. Groundless allegations US astronauts might be responsible for causing damage to the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-09, attached to the ISS, are extremely dangerous and absolutely unacceptable, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said in the wake of media publications on that score.

"It is absolutely impermissible to cast a shadow either on our cosmonauts or US astronauts," he said.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 13. /TASS/. Participants of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok signed 175 agreements for a total of 2.9 trillion rubles ($42.07 bln), Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev told reporters on Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation to take part in the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BARF) in 2019, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Thursday.

LUXEMBOURG, September 13. /TASS/. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed a motion filed by Russian companies and banks - Sberbank, VTB, Vnesheconombank, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Almaz-Antey – to annul the EU’s sanctions, TASS reports from the courtroom.

"The court dismisses the action [for annulment of sanctions]," the judge announced.

Russian banks and companies, whose actions to cancel EU sanctions were dismissed by the European Court of Justice, can appeal against the court decision in two months, a court spokesperson told reporters.

BRUSSELS, September 13. /TASS/. The European Union has extended sanctions against Russia, which expire on September 15, for another six months, the EU Council press service reported on Thursday.

"The Council has prolonged the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until 15 March 2019," the press service said in a statement.

According to the statement, the sanctions apply to 155 persons and 44 entities.

WARSAW, Sep. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Polish defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak has empowered the Polish Armed Forces General Commander to allow the stationing of NATO and NATO-allied forces on Polish territory, local media reported Wednesday.

According to Polish Press Agency (PAP), the decision is mainly addressed to NATO and NATO-aligned forces and forces from countries participating in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Foreign units stationed in Poland will not be able to exceed 500 people.

STRASBOURG, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The members of European Parliament regret the United States "America first" policy, which has led to withdrawal from international agreements and launched trade wars, they said in a resolution adopted Wednesday.

Approved by 490 votes to 148, with 51 abstentions, the resolution affirms that the EU-U.S. relationship is a key guarantor of global stability, but that the choice of a one-sided "America first" policy has eroded relations between the two powers, and harmed the interests of both parties.