Russia

MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/: The new US administration showed political will thanks to which Moscow and Washington managed to agree on extending New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"We see that the new administration of President [Joe] Biden showed this political will. Moreover, they even outlined a proposal for five years," Peskov stressed.

According to him, "this is a very good proposal that certainly received Russia’s support immediately".

MOSCOW, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday discussed over phone the ongoing efforts to secure the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire, the Kremlin said.

The two sides welcomed the launch of the joint Russian-Turkish center "for monitoring the ceasefire and any military activities in the conflict zone," it said in a statement.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian police have issued a strong warning against participating in protests planned for Sunday to call for the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s most prominent foe.

The warning comes amid detentions of Navalny associates and opposition journalists and a police plan to restrict movement in the center of Moscow on Sunday.

(AP) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill extending the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States a week before the pact was due to expire.

Both houses of the Russian parliament voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the New START treaty for five years. Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden had discussed the nuclear accord a day earlier, and the Kremlin said they agreed to complete the necessary extension procedures in the next few days.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, January 29. /TASS/: The security situation in the Russian Far East is far from clear, but Moscow is aware of all the threats, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday, opening a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council.

KERCH, January 29. /TASS/: Two more Project 22160 ships will be built for the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, Chief of the Russian Navy's General Staff Alexander Vitko told journalists, adding that a total of six such ships will be built.

"All six ships will join the Black Sea Fleet," Vitko said, answering a question from TASS.

He noted that ships of this Project have proven their worth, and, if a decision is made to build more such ships, they will likely to join other fleets.

MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/: A total of 19,238 new COVID-19 cases were registered in Russia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total case count to 3,813,048, the coronavirus prevention anti-crisis center announced Friday.

The case growth rate in the past 24 hours was 0.51%, the statistics say.

In particular, 2,284 cases were registered in St. Petersburg, 1,044 - in the Moscow Region, 471 - in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 378 - in the Voronezh Region, and 377 - in the Rostov Region.

Currently, 485,401 patients remain in hospitals in Russia.

MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he has never been to the so-called "palace" in Gelendzhik. "No, I haven’t been," he told reporters on Friday, answering a question on the matter.

Peskov added that he had not seen video footage published by the Mash Telegram channel, where mass construction works are depicted at the alleged site in Gelendzhik. "No, we haven’t seen it so far, there’s been no time for that," he stated.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Thursday rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny for his release from jail, while authorities detained several of his allies and warned social media companies about promoting more protests after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend demanding his freedom.

Appearing in court by video link from jail, Navalny denounced the criminal proceedings against him as part of a government campaign to intimidate the opposition.

MURMANSK, January 28. /TASS/: Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet aviation and air defense units carried out the first ever complex exercise on fending off an air attack on the guarded site near the Safonovo naval aerodrome in the Murmansk Region, the Northern Fleet press service announced Thursday.

"The exercise involved over 10 vehicles and 100 personnel, including the Ka-29 assault helicopter crew, unmanned aviation and security units," the announcement says.