Russia

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that relations with the United States were at an all-time low, dismissing the idea the two sides could turn things around halfway through U.S. President Joe Biden's term in office.

"Bilateral relations are probably at their lowest point historically, unfortunately," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"There is no hope for improvement in the foreseeable future."

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that Western countries supplying additional tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict and the West would regret its "delusion" that Ukraine could win on the battlefield.

European leaders meeting at the Ramstein U.S. Air Base in Germany urged Berlin on Friday to give the green light for the delivery of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to drive back Moscow's forces, although no decision was made.

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/: Ukraine’s military used 14 brigades in the Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) and Soledar areas, with their battles with Russian forces resulting in a loss of 60%-70% of their personnel, military expert Colonel Vitaly Kiselev, of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) has said.

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin discussed measures of strategic deterrence and the training of the regional group of forces, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu held a telephone conversation with Belarusian Defense Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin. The two defense chiefs discussed current measures of strategic deterrence and progress in the training of the regional group of forces," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, Jan 19 (Reuters) - An ally of President Vladimir Putin warned NATO on Thursday that a defeat of Russia in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war, while the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said the world would end if the West tried to destroy Russia.

Such apocalyptic rhetoric is intended to deter the U.S.-led NATO military alliance from getting even more involved in the war, on the eve of a meeting of Ukraine's allies to discuss sending Kyiv more weapons.

MOSCOW, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that the Ukraine crisis is "the result of preparations by the United States and its satellites for the start of a global hybrid war" against his country.

The West is trying to prove that they are not fighting Russia but are only helping Ukraine respond to an "aggression" and restore its territorial integrity, Lavrov said at his annual press conference, adding that the scale of their support makes it clear that the West has staked a great deal on its war against Russia.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: The Bank of Russia starts setting official rates of the ruble against nine more foreign currencies from January 18, the regulator said on Wednesday.

"The UEA dirham, the Thai bath, the Vietnamese dong, the Serbian dinar, the New Zealand dollar, the Georgian lari, the Indonesian rupiah, the Egyptian pound, and the Qatari rial were additionally included in the list of foreign currencies, with their official rates against the ruble set by the Bank of Russia," the Central Bank said.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: Turkey supports normalizing relations with Syria and has asked for Russia’s assistance on the issue with a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers being in the works, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Russian diplomacy in 2022 on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: Western borders of the Union State and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are reliably protected, and a barrier for NATO forces have has been created thanks to the joint forces group, deployed in Belarus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement ahead of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s working visit to Belarus.

ST. PETERSBURG, January 18. /TASS/: Russia’s victory is unavoidable, it is based on the unity of the Russian people, the heroism of special operation fighters and the operation of the military-industrial complex (MIC), Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his visit to the Obukhov State Plant (an Almaz-Antey subsidiary) Wednesday.

The head of state noted that the Russian military-industrial complex produces as many air defense missiles as all world producers combined. In addition, Putin noted a number of other components that assure him of Russia’s victory.