Russia

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/: Berlin's decision to stop certification of the Nord Stream 2 project will cause irreversible damage to Russian-German relations, Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment.

MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Russian officials are ready to hold a second round of talks with Ukraine on Wednesday but it is unclear whether Ukrainian officials will turn up, the Kremlin said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was contradictory information about the talks, which would follow a meeting at the Belarusian border on Monday that failed to produce a breakthrough. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before more talks could take place on Russia's invasion of his country.

MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - A Russian delegation is travelling to a meeting point for talks with Ukrainian counterparts, Belarus' Belta news agency reported ahead of negotiations that are expected to resume later on Wednesday.

Ukrainians said they were fighting on in the southern port of Kherson, the first sizeable city Russia claims to have seized, while Russian air strikes and bombardment caused devastation in cities that Moscow's bogged-down forces have failed to capture.

MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that if a third World War were to take place, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive, the RIA news agency reported.

Lavrov has said that Russia, which launched what it calls a special military operation against Ukraine last week, would face a "real danger" if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons.

MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree introducing temporary economic measures to ensure the country's financial stability, the Kremlin announced Tuesday.

These measures will be taken in response to anti-Russian sanctions by the United States, other countries and international organizations, according to the decree.

Among the measures, Russia will ban the outflow of foreign currencies in an amount exceeding the equivalent of 10,000 U.S. dollars starting Wednesday.

MOSCOW (AP) — As Russia’s top diplomat during the invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is embodying the Kremlin’s defiant posture with a mixture of toughness and sarcasm.

While President Vladimir Putin single-handedly shapes the country’s foreign policy, Lavrov delivers Moscow’s message with a bluntness uncharacteristic of a diplomat.

02 March 2022; MEMO:Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed vowed to maintain energy market stability, the UAE's state news agency reported yesterday, as crude prices increased after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The agency said the two leaders spoke on the phone and discussed "the energy file in light of Russian cooperation with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)."

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/: Russia has not yet imposed its response measures to the Western sanction but people in the West already see what their countries’ anti-Russian sanctions are entailing, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/: The issue of using the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 under sanctions causes skepticism, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Tuesday.

"Roscosmos currently has a government permission for operating the ISS only until 2024. The issue of extending the agreement in the current conditions causes our skepticism," the Roscosmos press office said.

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/: Russia cannot but react to the real risk of Ukraine obtaining nuclear weapons, and it has been taking every measure to prevent this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video address to the Disarmament Conference.

He stressed that the Ukrainian side’s "irresponsible statements" regarding plans for obtaining nuclear weapons were not a "bravado".