Europe

ROME, May 6. /TASS/: The European Union will fully embargo Russian oil within nine months, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero published on Friday.

"Our proposal is to embargo [oil], depending on the types of petroleum products, within nine months. Shorter terms would trigger a negative impact on global oil prices, which contradicts our goals," he said.

"The decision will affect the European economy," Commissioner noted, adding though that it "will hit the Russian [economy] harder."

MADRID, May 5 (Reuters) - Spain received 4 million tourists in March, more than eight times as many as in the same month last year, after most pandemic-related restrictions were lifted, data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed on Thursday.

Foreign tourists spent 5.07 billion euros ($5.37 billion) while on holiday in the country in March, up from a mere 544 million euros a year earlier, the data showed.

SARAJEVO, May 4 (Reuters) - Germany will work for an extension of the EU's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia as concerns mount about instability spilling over from the Ukraine war, but has not yet decided whether to provide troops, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said.

"(The EU mission) EUFOR is an important signal for the stabilization of the country," she told reporters after meeting her Bosnian counterpart Sifet Podzic in Sarajevo on Wednesday. "German will do its part for this work to continue".

PARIS, May 6 (Reuters) - France's Socialist Party on Friday sealed a coalition deal with the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party to run together in June's parliamentary elections to try to deprive newly re-elected President Emmanuel Macron of a majority.

"From now on, we are going to campaign together," said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.

BERLIN, May 6 (Reuters) - Germany will deliver seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, on top of five howitzers the Dutch already pledged, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday.

The training of Ukrainian troops on the artillery weapons can start next week in Germany, she told reporters in the Slovak town Sliac where she was supposed to meet her Dutch counterpart later today.

MOSCOW, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday to discuss the Ukrainian situation.

The leaders paid special attention to humanitarian issues, including the evacuation of civilians held by militants of nationalist battalions from the Azovstal steel plant, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Russian military is ready to ensure the safe exit of civilians, Putin said, adding that the Kiev authorities should order the remaining militants at the Azovstal plant to lay down arms.

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian fighters battling Russian forces in the tunnels beneath Mariupol’s immense steel plant refused to surrender in the face of relentless attacks, with the wife of one commander saying they had vowed to “stand till the end.”

The battle, in the last Ukrainian stronghold of the strategic port city reduced to ruins by the Russian onslaught, appeared increasingly desperate on Thursday.

“They won’t surrender,” Kateryna Prokopenko said after speaking by phone to her husband, a leader of the steel plant defenders. “They only hope for a miracle.”

CHISINAU, May 5. /TASS/: It is impossible for Moldova to provide military assistance to Ukraine, Moldovan Parliament Chairman and leader of the country’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity Igor Grosu said in response to a relevant request from Speaker of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Ruslan Stefanchuk, Spokesperson for the Party of Action and Solidarity Adriana Vlas told TASS on Thursday.

"The parliament chairman stated that given Moldova’s neutral status, we cannot send military equipment to other countries," she pointed out.

MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/: Russia’s Health Ministry has registered a coronavirus drug called Mirobivir developed by the Pharmasyntez company, according to the state register of medicines.

Mirobivir, based on the combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, was registered on May 4 and will be available in tablet form with 150 + 100 mg strength.

BELGRADE, May 5. /TASS/: The talks between Belgrade and Moscow on a new long-term gas contract will begin in coming days, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, addressing journalists in Berlin after a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday.