Russia

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.

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/: Bulgaria has not been pursuing an independent policy for quite a long time and its decision to expel 70 Russian diplomats was made under the pressing of external forces, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said on Friday.

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/: The result of the NATO summit in Madrid have demonstrated that the alliance has returned to the Cold War-era military security schemes, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Friday.

"I think that the key conclusion we can draw is that in Madrid NATO has completed an evolution somersault in its development after its establishment in 1949 and has returned to its roots, i.e. to the Cold War-era military security schemes," he said at a meeting of the Valdai international discussion club.

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday talked about actions of several countries that led to global food problems.

"Putin drew attention to the systemic mistakes made by a number of countries, which led to the disruption of free trade in food products and provoked a significant increase in their price. Unlawful sanctions against Russia have exacerbated an already difficult situation," the Kremlin press service said.

MOSCOW, Jul 1 (NNN-TASS) – Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and visiting Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, yesterday, discussed the current situation in Ukraine, and the supplies of grain and fertilisers, amid a global food shortage.

During a joint briefing after their talks at the Kremlin, Putin said that, he informed Widodo in detail of the situation in Ukraine.

Speaking about the imbalance in the global food market, Putin attributed the problem to many years of irresponsible macroeconomic policies in some Western countries.

KHIMKI, Russia, July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner went on trial in a court on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday to hear drug charges that could see her serve up to 10 years in a Russian jail.

Griner, 31, was formally told at this first hearing that she was charged with intentionally importing narcotics into Russia. She spoke to say she understood the charges. The judge set the next hearing for July 7.

July 1 (Reuters) - As Russia's military continues to pound Ukraine with missiles and other lethal weapons, Western nations have responded in part by targeting Russia's defense industry with sanctions. The latest round came on Tuesday, when the United States issued new sanctions on some arms makers and executives at the heart of what it dubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war machine."

(AP) --- It has not been an easy week for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He took his first foreign trip since the invasion of Ukraine to shore up relations with troublesome Central Asian allies. He watched as NATO declared Moscow its main enemy and invited Russia’s neighbors Sweden and Finland to join the alliance. And he was forced to deny that his troops had yet again attacked a civilian target in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/: The AK-12 assault rifle, developed by the Kalashnikov concern, has exceeded by far the Russian Defense Ministry’s non-stop burst fire requirement, the concern said on its Telegram channel on Thursday.

"The AK-12 endured 680 shots fired in bursts non-stop, exceeding thrice the Defense Ministry’s standard," the report says.

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/: British ambassador in Moscow Deborah Bronnert was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday to hear a protest in connection with boorish statements by her country's leadership about Russia and President Vladimir Putin, the Foreign Ministry said in a news release.