Russia

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/: S-400 air defense systems and Pantsyr-S1 anti-aircraft missile/gun launchers enjoyed the greatest demand among foreign customers in 2021, Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said in an interview with the RBC media group on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/: Russia has not changed its plans to supply gas to Europe after November 8, once its own gas storage facilities are filled, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

When asked if Moscow plans to increase gas supplies to Europe after November 8, he said:

SOCHI, November 1. /TASS/: The US warship that has entered the Black Sea can be clearly seen through a binocular or a sight of Russia’s defense capabilities, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, opening a series of traditional defense industry meetings in Sochi.

"As you know, a US warship has now entered the Black Sea. We can look at it through a binocular or through a sight of the corresponding defense systems," Putin said.

MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/: Gas supplies to China over the Power of Siberia gas pipeline set a new record on October 31 and were more than 19% above daily commitments, Gazprom reports on Monday.

"Gas supplies to China over the Power of Siberia continue growing. On October 31, supplies at the request of the Chinese side reached a new record level and were more than 19% above daily contract commitments of Gazprom," the company says.

MOSCOW, November 1. / TASS /: Russia does not shrink from the Normandy format meetings, it was Kiev that "has not lifted a finger" in order to fulfill the agreements reached at the 2019 summit in Paris, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Russia-24 TV channel on Monday.

ORYOL, Russia, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Ambulance attendant Roman Stebakov has come face-to-face with COVID-19 many times - but he'd rather take his chances with the disease than get himself injected with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

"I won't get vaccinated until, I don't know, they break me and vaccinate me by force. I don't see the point in it, there are no guarantees it's safe," says the paramedic from Oryol, 300 km (185 miles) south of Moscow.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday emphasized the need to strengthen the country’s air defenses amid NATO’s military activities near Russia’s borders.

Speaking during a meeting with military officials and arms makers in the southern Russian city of Sochi, Putin specificially noted the deployment of NATO’s U.S.-led missile defense components in Eastern Europe and increasingly frequent missions by NATO ships near Russian waters in the Baltic and Black Seas.

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has no meetings with members of the US delegation on his schedule of the G20 summit in Rome, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Saturday.

"Our US colleagues are not mentioned in the schedule," she told the Soloviev Live YouTube channel.

Zakharova added that on Sunday, Lavrov is scheduled to meet with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and participate in G20 events.

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/: European consumers’ applications for supplies of Russian gas are being fulfilled in full, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said in a statement amid reports that pumping via the Yamal-Europe pipeline had been stopped.

"Fluctuations in demand for Russian gas depends on the buyers’ existing needs," Gazprom said.

ROME, October 31. /TASS/: World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that he had met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the G20 summit in Rome and agreed with him on the need to strengthen the global healthcare system and the WHO’s key role.

"Met Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, at the G20 Rome Summit and agreed we must strengthen the health architecture, including the WHO’s key role, to prevent health threats," Ghebreyesus twitted.