Russia

MOSCOW, July 19. / TASS /: The pipe-laying vessel Academic Chersky will lay a 2.6 km section of the second string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in German waters, Nord Stream 2 AG told TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/: Russia has consistently delivered development goals despite difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, President Vladimir Putin said by a video link at the meeting of the Council on Strategic Development and National Projects.

"Despite great trials and the need to mobilize resources to combat the coronavirus, we consistently progressed because we always, even in the most difficult time, kept the focus on our common national goals that are close and clear for every citizen of the country," Putin said.

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/: The United States’ actions in Afghanistan in the past 20 years can hardly be called logical, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

SEVASTOPOL, July 16. /TASS/: The crew of the Black Sea Fleet’s Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarine Kolpino practiced breaching a notional enemy’s minefields in drills, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.

"The crews of the Black Sea Fleet’s submarine Kolpino and the minesweeper Ivan Golubets held a joint exercise to breach a minefield set up by the notional enemy’s warships in the Black Sea," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/: The ministers of OPEC+ countries agreed to extend the agreement until the end of 2022 with the main parameter of the deal - the production baseline - changing for some countries at a meeting on Sunday, a source participating in the talks told TASS.

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/: Russia is implementing the United Nations Security Council resolution when it holds contacts with the Taliban (a radical movement outlawed in Russia), which is listed as a participant in the intra-Afghan talks in this resolution, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/: Oil production in Russia will reach the pre-crisis level in May 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday.

"It was decided to increase [oil] production to the pre-crisis level. As for Russia, we will reach the pre-crisis level already in May 2022," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

MOSCOW (AP) — An airport in the Siberian city of Yakutsk temporarily halted operations on Sunday after the municipality, along with 50 other towns and settlements, got covered in smoke from wildfires raging in the region.

Russia has been plagued by widespread forest fires, blamed on unusually high temperatures and the neglect of fire safety rules, with Sakha-Yakutia in northeastern Siberia being the worst affected region lately.

MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/: The OPEC+ countries are discussing holding ministerial meeting on Sunday, July 18, as the main differences between the allies have already been settled, two OPEC sources told TASS.

"The meeting is highly likely to be held tomorrow. We are now awaiting official confirmation," one of the sources told TASS. Another source confirmed that July 18 was discussed specifically.

MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 25,116 per day to 5,933,115, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus told reporters on Saturday.

In relative terms, the increase in the number of cases was 0.43%. In particular, during the day, 2,541 cases were detected in the Moscow Region, 1,957 - in St. Petersburg, 535 - in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 492 - in the Sverdlovsk Region, 491 - in the Krasnoyarsk Region. Currently, 463,115 people are continuing treatment in Russia.