Russia

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: The dialogue with Russia is the chief means of achieving stability and security in Europe, France’s visiting President Emanuel Macron said at the open part of the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.

"We laid the basis for a full-scale and open dialogue in 2019," Macron said. Also, he recalled the talks he had with Putin at Fort de Bregancon and in St. Petersburg. "I believe that such a dialogue today is more relevant than ever. This dialogue is necessary: it is the sole way of ensuring security and stability in Europe."

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not take part in the Munich Security Conference either in person or via video link, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.

"Putin has no plans to participate in the Munich conference in any format," the spokesman said in reply to a question.

MOSCOW, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia registered 171,905 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, fewer than a day earlier for the first time since Jan. 10, taking the national tally to 12,982,023, the official monitoring and response center said Monday.

The nationwide death toll grew by 609, the lowest increase since June 27, to 336,023, and the number of recoveries increased by 55,683 to 10,624,954.

Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported 15,442 new cases, taking its total to 2,511,333.

MOSCOW (AP) — International efforts to defuse the standoff over Ukraine intensified Monday, with French President Emmanuel Macron holding talks in Moscow and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington to coordinate policies as fears of a Russian invasion mounted.

The buildup of an estimated 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fueled Western worries of a possible offensive. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day,” triggering a conflict that would come at an “enormous human cost.”

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/: Washington is trying to limit all the international security issues to Ukraine, which is absolutely wrong, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said on the YouTube channel Soloviov Live on Saturday.

"You know, the US is trying to narrow down all the present-day problems to Ukraine. I believe it is absolutely wrong, it is an attempt to blur the true state of affairs," he said. Antonov said that Russian documents on security guarantees raise a question of the further development of the international security system.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova drew attention to the silence of the US State Department regarding fake publications by the US news agency Bloomberg.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Moscow took retaliatory measures towards German broadcaster Deutsche Welle following Berlin’s decision to ban RT DE in Germany to demonstrate that further steps in this direction will come at a cost, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday in an interview with the Soloviev Live YouTube channel.

"We respond, we’ve been taught, we are doing this to demonstrate that further steps in this direction will come at a cost," the diplomat stressed.

MOSCOW, February 6./TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across Russia grew by 180,071 in the past 24 hours, amounting to 12,810,118 overall, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Sunday.

The relative growth rate is 1.4%. As many as 12,749 coronavirus patients were hospitalized across Russia in the past 24 hours, which is 29.3 % less than the day before, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported.

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/: A spacecraft launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry has been delivered to orbit by the Fregat booster, the ministry said in a statement.

"The Soyuz-2.1a medium-class carrier rocket that was launched from the Plesetsk spaceport in the Arkhangelsk region at 10:00 am Moscow time on February 5, has successfully delivered a spacecraft to the designated orbit in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 177,282 to 12,630,047 in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Saturday.

Russia’s coronavirus growth rate was 1.4%.