Russia

MOSCOW, July 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will not congratulate his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on Monday's U.S. Independence Day because of Washington's "unfriendly" actions towards Moscow, the Kremlin said.

"Congratulations this year can hardly be considered appropriate," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "The United States' unfriendly policies are the reason."

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin on the liberation of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday.

"On July 3, 2022, the Russian Minister of Defense, General of the Army Sergey Shoigu reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Putin on the liberation of the Lugansk People's Republic," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 3,080 over the past day to 18,439,759, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

As many as 510 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 63 regions, while in 13 other regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 1,112 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that his country will ban imports of Russian gold and will impose sanctions against 16 more Russian nationals, Reuters reported on Sunday.

According to Albanese, the new sanctions will cover ministers and businessmen.

When these sanctions are imposed, the blacklist of Russian nationals will include 843 names.

The Australian prime minister recalled that his country would send 20 more Bushmaster armored military cars and 14 armored infantry carriers.

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/: The West is currently betting on continuing the war, Washington does not allow Kiev to think or talk about peace, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"Now is the moment when Western countries are betting on the continuation of the war. This means that the moment continues when Western countries, under the leadership of Washington, do not allow Ukrainians to think or talk about peace," Peskov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, July 2 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday Ukraine had tried to strike military facilities on Belarusian territory three days ago, but all its missiles had been intercepted, the state-run Belta news agency reported.

Lukashenko, who did not provide evidence for the claim, said Belarus did not want war with Ukraine, but would fight if its own territory was invaded.

The Ukrainian military did not immediately comment.

02 July 2022; Tehran (ISNA) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and top negotiator Ali Bagheri met his Russian counterpart Sergey Ryabkov in Moscow.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the International Organizations and Russia’s top negotiator in Vienna, has also been present in the talks, according to his own Twitter post on July 1.

The meeting in Moscow came two days after Doha talks which were held on Tuesday and Wednesday over issues that remained from the Vienna talks.

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/: Excluding Russia from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is possible only if the entire organization is disbanded and created anew, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

Commenting on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s calls to strip Russia of its permanent UNSC member status, Polyansky said those remarks "do not stand up to scrutiny."

"Naturally, all normal people realize that this scenario will be possible only if the UN is disbanded and created anew," he told the Soloviev Live TV channel.

GROZNY, July 2. /TASS/: Allied forces have completely surrounded the city of Lisichansk, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Saturday.

"The trap has closed, allied forces have completely surrounded Lisichansk. It’s fair to say that a full-scale offensive on the city will begin soon. The enemy has nowhere to go because all routes in and out of the city are blocked," he wrote on Telegram.

According to earlier reports, over 2,000 members of Ukrainian territorial defense units remain in Lisichansk, protecting foreign mercenaries.

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/: Ukraine is facing significant losses on all fronts, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"The enemy is facing significant losses on all fronts. Three battalions from the Tenth Mountain Assault Brigade and the 72nd Mechanized Brigade [of the Ukrainian Armed Forces] lost more than half of their personnel near the Verkhnekamenka and Zolotarevka settlements in just one day," he noted.