Russia

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: The Project Borei-A strategic underwater cruiser Knyaz Oleg and the Project Yasen nuclear-powered submarines Kazan and Novosibirsk will enter service with the Russian Navy until the end of this year, Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov said on Friday.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: Faulty gas equipment is believed to be the cause of an explosion that hit a nine-storey apartment building in the town of Khimki outside Moscow on Friday, an emergency source told TASS.

"Faulty gas equipment and a gas leak are among the possible causes," he said.

The explosion occurred in an eighth-floor apartment on Friday morning, causing a fire that engulfed five apartments. As a result, a ninth-floor deck and several balconies were destroyed and many windows were shattered.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: The Russian Pacific Fleet will receive the Varshavyanka-class last submarine Yakutsk in a series six Project 636.3 underwater cruisers in 2024, Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on Friday.

"This year, the Admiralty Shipyard will lay the keel of two more Project 636.3 diesel-electric submarines Mozhaisk and Yakutsk for the Pacific Fleet forces," the Navy chief said.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: The talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden may still take place on Monday, if the US is unable to hold the discussion on Friday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He reminded that the Kremlin is also ready to hold the talks at any time convenient for Biden.

MOSCOW, March 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia on Thursday urged Afghan officials and the Taliban during talks in Moscow to reach an accord to end years of violence ahead of a deadline for US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.

The conference in Moscow is part of intensifying negotiations between the Afghan government, the Taliban and the United States in Qatar to negotiate Washington’s exit nearly 20 years after US troops invaded the country in response to the Sep 11 attacks.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that Moscow always hoped for the best but prepared for the worst when it was asked about the possibility of a new Cold War between the United States and Russia.

Diplomatic ties sank to a new low this week after U.S. President Joe Biden said he thought President Vladimir Putin was “a killer” in an interview that prompted Russia to recall its ambassador to the United States. Putin later offered Biden live online talks in the coming days.

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/: Moscow calls on Washington and representatives of the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) to remain committed to the peace agreement signed by the parties in Doha last February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday in his opening remarks at a meeting of the expanded "troika" on the Afghan peace process.

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will rely on honest and decent Americans in relations with Washington.

Speaking about Russian-US relations at a meeting with representatives of the public of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on Thursday, the Russian head of state drew attention to the difference in the views of the American people and the political establishment.

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/: The Black Lives Matter movement emerged because of a genocide that followed the entire US history, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the public of Crimea and Sevastopol.

"European’s settlement of the American continent was followed by elimination of the local population, with genocide as they call it today, direct genocide of the Indian tribes. It was followed by a very harsh, large, difficult period of slavery, very brutal," the head of state reminded.

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 cases rose by 9,803 in the past day, reaching 4,428,239, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

In relative terms, the growth rate hit 0.22%. The lowest growth rates were recorded in the Tuva Republic (0.01%), the Sakhalin Region (0.05%), the Magadan Region and the Republic of Adygea (0.06%).