Europe

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Russia will comply with the "high mark" of NATO, which might include a mentioning of the "direct threat," allegedly posed by Moscow’s activities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters Monday.

"We will pose a direct threat for them to comply with this high mark," the diplomat said, answering a question about Moscow’s reactions to NATO’s plans to outline Moscow as a "direct threat."

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: The leaders of the countries within the Collective Security Treaty Organization will discuss deeper military cooperation and biosecurity during the summit to mark the organization’s 30th anniversary, which is taking place in Moscow on Monday, according to the materials prepared for the event by the Kremlin.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: The Russian Defense Ministry said an agreement was reached on Monday to evacuate wounded Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal steel plant and a humanitarian corridor was opened for that end.

"As a result of talks with representatives of the Ukrainian troops that have been blocked at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, an agreement was reached on May 16 to evacuate the wounded," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Belarus is calling upon the Collective Security Treaty Organization member-countries to step up political cooperation to resist foreign pressures, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at the opening of the organization’s jubilee summit in Moscow on Monday.

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Heads of the Collective Security Treaty member states signed some multilateral documents at the summit that took place in the Russian capital on Monday.

They included a statement of the Collective Security Council in honor of the 30th anniversary of the treaty and the 20th anniversary of the organization.

BUDAPEST, May 16 (Reuters) - Hungary has not received any new serious proposal from the European Commission regarding oil sanctions on Russia since a visit of the Commission president to Budapest earlier this month, Hungary's foreign minister said on Monday on his Facebook page.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that reported attempts by the U.S. FBI and CIA to recruit embassy staff in Washington were unacceptable.

Russia's ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, told state media that embassy employees had been threatened with physical violence, and were frequently badgered in the vicinity of the Embassy to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Central Intelligence Agency.

May 16 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday urged other members of a Russian-dominated military alliance to stand united, and accused the West of hoping to prolong the conflict in Ukraine to try to weaken Russia as much as possible.

Lukashenko, speaking at a summit of the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Moscow, said "hellish sanctions" against his country and Russia could have been avoided if the group had spoken with one voice.

May 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday said Russia had no issue with Finland and Sweden, but that the expansion of military infrastructure on their territory would demand a reaction from Moscow, as the Nordic countries move closer to joining NATO.

Putin, speaking in Moscow at a summit of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), said NATO's expansion was a problem for Russia and that it must look closely at what he said were the U.S.-led military alliance's plans to increase its global influence.

PARIS, May 16 (Reuters) - The European Union and the United States agreed on Monday to cooperate more closely to counter disrupted supply of industrial commodities and food caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and to combat disinformation from Moscow.

Senior EU and U.S. officials convened in Paris for the second Trade and Technology Council, a forum initially seen as a transatlantic counterweight to China, but now with a clear focus also on Russia.