Europe

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/: The situation in Ukraine was among the topics discussed by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and US Secretary od Defense Lloyd Austin over the phone, the Russian defense ministry said on Friday.

"Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu had telephone talks with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the initiative of the American side. The sides discussed current issues of international security, including the situation in Ukraine," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/: Russian football clubs CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow and Sochi have filed a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against their suspension from the European tournaments in the 2022/2023 season, CSKA Moscow FC press office announced in a statement on Friday.

"The clubs requested a prompt consideration of the submitted appeal," the statement reads. "We hope that the principle of sports will be upheld."

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 5,047 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected to 18,255,337, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Saturday.

In absolute terms the increase in new cases equaled 0.03%.

TSKHINVAL, May 14. /TASS/: South Ossetian presidential candidate and leader of the Nykhas party Alan Gagloyev gained 56.09% of the vote with 100% of ballots counted and won the presidential election, according to the protocol of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the republic on the results of the second round of presidential elections obtained by TASS.

"Based on the results of the presidential election of the Republic of South Ossetia on May 8, 2022 to consider Alan E. Gagloyev elected to the presidency in the Republic of South Ossetia," the CEC decree said.

PARIS, May 14 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a trip to the United Arab Emirates to mourn the death of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and display his support for the ruling family, with whom France holds lucrative business and military ties.

Macron will travel to the UAE on Sunday, his administration said in a statement, to pay tribute to Khalifa, who died on Friday, and "express his support to his brother Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and the rest of the family, and the entire Emirian people",

WEISSENHAUS, Germany May 14 (Reuters) - Group of Seven foreign ministers vowed on Saturday to reinforce Russia's economic and political isolation, continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and tackle what Germany's foreign minister described as a "wheat war" being waged by Moscow.

After meeting at a 400-year-old castle estate in the Baltic Sea resort of Weissenhaus, senior diplomats from Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union also pledged to continue their military and defence assistance for "as long as necessary".

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that the West had announced a "total hybrid war" against Russia and it was hard to predict how long it would last.

In a speech on the 80th day since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lavrov pointed to the barrage of sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow and attempted to portray Russia as the target, not the perpetrator, of aggression.

May 14 (Reuters) - Moscow will take adequate precautionary measures if NATO deploys nuclear forces and infrastructure closer to Russia's border, Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Saturday.

"It will be necessary to respond ... by taking adequate precautionary measures that would ensure the viability of deterrence," Interfax agency quoted Grushko as saying.

Moscow has no hostile intentions towards Finland and Sweden and does not see "real" reasons for those two countries to be joining the NATO alliance, Grushko added.

May 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto on Saturday that ditching neutrality and joining NATO would be a mistake that could damage relations between their two countries, the Kremlin said.

The two countries said their presidents spoke by phone two days after Finland declared its intention to join the Western alliance. Moscow has described that as a security threat that will require it to respond, but has not specified how.

14 May 2022; MEMO: European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Friday that he had "reopened" negotiations on reviving the nuclear deal, which has been at a standstill for several years.

"The negotiations were stalled, and now they have been reopened," Borrell confirmed from Wangels in northern Germany, where he is attending a G7 foreign ministers meeting.