Europe

28 August 2022; MEMO: Six more ships have left Ukrainian ports under the Istanbul grain export deal, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

Shipments from Ukrainian ports are continuing, said a ministry statement, adding: "Six more ships loaded with grain departed from Ukrainian ports this morning."

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 46,857 over the past day, while the death toll rose by 83 people, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

Russia registered 47,093 cases and 90 deaths a day earlier, bringing the total since the outbreak of the pandemic to 19,405,923 and 384,083, respectively.

Recoveries rose by 28,223 over the past day, compared with 32,642 a day earlier, reaching a total of 18,495,961.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: Russia will look at the implementation of current agreements with the United States before negotiating an extending the program of cross-flights to the ISS (Russian cosmonauts on US spacecraft and US astronauts on Russia’s Soyuz vehicles), Director General of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov told TASS.

"So far we are not getting ahead of ourselves, let's see how the existing agreements will be implemented," Borisov said and recalled that at the moment there is an agreement with NASA on three cross flights. The first is set to take place this fall.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday said gas prices in Europe could reach 5,000 euros in the spot market before yearend.

"To the heads of state and government of the European Union countries. In connection with the increase of gas prices to 3,500 euros per one thousand cubic meters, I’m forced to increase the price forecast to 5,000 euros by the end of 2022. With warm regards," he said on Telegram.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: Moscow hopes that the visit to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant by IAEA inspectors will finally take place, despite Kiev;s destructive influence, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/: The West is seeking to disregard objective historic processes, which may slow down the forming of a multipolar world but will never stop it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Zvezda television channel, which was posted on the foreign ministry’s website on Sunday.

"Regrettably, our Western partners, who have ceded the reins of power to the United States, <…> are seeking to disregard objective historic processes, which may slow down the formation of a multipolar world but will never be able to stop it," he said.

GENEVA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A group of Swiss politicians has formed 'Stop Blackouts', which will launch a petition seeking a revision to the country's energy policy to guarantee adequate power supplies and keep nuclear as part of the mix.

Switzerland plans to close its five nuclear reactors following a 2017 decision prompted by safety concerns after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, and has already shut one reactor.

BERLIN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Germany's gas storage facilities are filling up faster than planned, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, giving hope that Europe's biggest economy could avoid acute gas shortages this winter.

"The reservoirs are filling up faster than specified," Habeck was quoted as saying by Der Spiegel Magazine, adding that the government goal of achieving 85% storage capacity by October could be reached by the beginning of September.

VIENNA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday.

Austria's conservative-led government was initially sceptical at the idea of capping power prices but it has warmed to the idea as they have continued to rise in line with soaring gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

BERLIN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Germany's ruling Social Democrats (SPD) will propose further measures to help its citizens cope with rising energy prices, including another discounted national transport ticket, a document seen by Reuters showed on Sunday.

Households are facing higher energy costs after the German gas market operator set a levy from October to help utilities cover the cost of replacing Russian supplies.