Russia

09 June 2021; MEMO: Turkish officials have met with their counterparts at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow for consultations on the latest developments in Syria and Libya. According to the ministry, the delegations reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

09 June 2021; MEMO: A Russian company is seeking bids from contractors for the massive Vostok Oil project, which is expected to be available for oil tankers to use as an alternative to Egypt's Suez Canal by 2024, Reuters reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/: The United States is calculating current risks and probing into whether it will be feasible to push ahead with the policy of 'dual containment' of Russia and China, the president of the Russian Institute of the World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) under the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Dynkin, told TASS in an interview.

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 9,977 COVID-19 cases over the past day, a new high since March 14, bringing the total case tally to 5,145,843, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Tuesday.

The number of COVID-19 cases rose by 0.19% in relative terms.

The lowest growth rates were registered over the past day in the Tuva Republic (0.04%), the Magadan Region, North Ossetia, the Republic of Adygea and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (0.05%).

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/: Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) on Tuesday unanimously adopted a draft statement, condemning Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s bill, which reads that Russians cannot be considered native peoples of the country and calling on inter-parliamentarian institutions and EU member parliaments to oppose this initiative.

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/: The Kremlin has to state that the world situation continues to get worse, as the global system of security is degrading and new hotbeds of tension emerge. East-West tensions cause particular concern, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told the international forum of experts Primakov Readings in Moscow on Tuesday.

He stressed that on the forum's agenda there were certain "foreign policy, economic and humanitarian issues that will determine the development of the system of international relations for years ahead."

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the international community needs to think about the lessons to be learned from the coronavirus pandemic.

"Although it is too early to talk about the victory over the coronavirus, we need to reflect on the lessons to be learned from that disaster, and how to act in the future if such situations arise," the head of state noted in his welcoming address to the participants in the Primakov Readings forum read out by Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/: Although travel packages for inoculating foreigners in Russia are ready, it is necessary to resolve the entry issue for such tourists into the country, the President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) Andrei Ignatyev told TASS.

"Travel agencies were ready to organize vaccination tours at the beginning of the year since they regularly received such requests from all over the world. The product is ready, but the issues of visa support and legal entry for foreigners wishing to receive the Russian vaccine are yet to be resolved," Ignatiev said.

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/: Russia is preparing for additional sanctions, and serious work has been initiated into dealing with the country’s potential disconnection from international payment systems, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said at parliamentary hearings in the State Duma.

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/: Sanctions against Russia have been enshrined in the legal acts of Western states and will last forever, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told the parliamentary hearings in the State Duma (lower house) on Monday.

"The sanctions regime has always been in place. And it will remain so forever, let us be realistic. Sanctions have been enshrined in many legal acts, in the US and other states, and it is impossible to roll them back," the diplomat stated.