Russia

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: The Embassy and Consulates General of Russia in Ukraine are functioning smoothly, despite attacks from Ukrainian radicals and provocations from Ukrainian security forces, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Tuesday.

"The Embassy and Consulates General of Russia work in a routine mode. They do it despite attacks on Russian foreign missions from Ukrainian radicals and provocations from local security forces," she said.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev discussed, among other things, the situation in Ukraine and Russia’s talks with the US and NATO on security guarantees for Russia, the Kremlin said.

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (NNN-TASS) – Russia will station troops on its own territory, near the Ukrainian border, due to tensions with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said yesterday.

“We find it necessary to keep those troops, due to a very tense situation and very unfriendly environment,” Peskov said, in an interview with U.S. broadcaster CNN.

Russia has to take measures of precaution in response to NATO military build-up, drills and frequent flights of fighter jets and reconnaissance planes near the Russian borders, he said.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia is sending troops from the country’s far east to Belarus for major war games, officials said Tuesday, a deployment that will further beef up Russian military assets near Ukraine amid Western fears of a planned invasion.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the drills would involve practicing a joint response to external threats by Russia and Belarus, which have close political, economic and military ties.

Ukrainian officials have warned that neighboring Russia could launch an attack from various directions, including from Belarus.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: The Russian State Duma (lower house) has unanimously decided to withdraw the bill on introducing COVID-19 certificates with QR codes for visiting public places, Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said on his Telegram channel.

"The State Duma unanimously dropped the bill on [introducing] QR codes," the senior lawmaker revealed.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: Moscow does not plan any further discussion at the OSCE on security guarantee proposals, Russian Ambassador to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich told an online briefing on Monday.

"I want to say that we did not, nor are we going to hold any discussions on our initiatives at the OSCE. This is an amorphous structure that has no international legal status," he stressed.

MOSCOW, January 17./TASS/: The friendship of Russia and China is not aimed against anyone, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Croatian counterpart Gordan Radman on Monday.

"As for our relations with the People’s Republic of China, they are not subject to the situation and are developing regardless of what our Western colleagues think about this. Our friendship with China is not aimed against anyone," Lavrov stressed.

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/: American experts’ comments on Russia’s alleged arms supplies to the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan in the Panjshir province are insinuations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 17./TASS/: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrives late on Monday in Moscow, where she is scheduled for talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday. Her working visit will continue until Tuesday evening, the press service of the German Embassy in Moscow told TASS.

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russian military forces and hardware began arriving in ex-Soviet Belarus for joint drills starting in February, Minsk said on Monday, amid soaring tensions between East and West over Ukraine.

The "Allied Resolve" exercises will be held near Belarus's western rim, the borders of NATO members Poland and Lithuania, and its southern flank with Ukraine, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said.