Russia

26 May 2023; MEMO: Russia signalled, on Thursday, that if demands to improve its grain and fertiliser exports are not met, then it will not extend beyond 17 July a deal allowing the safe wartime export of the same products from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/: Washington is unleashing its European satellites to nip at Moscow’s heels, believing it can get away with anything, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"For now, Washington is egging its European satellites on [to antagonize] the Russian Federation, thinking they can get away with anything," he said in an appearance on the "Moscow.Kremlin.Putin" television program, according to an excerpt posted on Friday on journalist Pavel Zarubin's Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/: A peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia may be signed in the foreseeable future, but in the end, what matters most is not when it is inked but that all issues are resolved, Russian presidential press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday.

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/: Russia has a bright future, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, pointing to the country’s enormous resources.

"As for the future, everyone actually has a future but the key question is what kind of future it will be. I am confident that Russia has a bright future. First, because we know what we want and what means to use to achieve our goals. Second, we have enormous resources, primarily human resources," the head of state said at a meeting with members of the Business Russia organization.

MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the conflict in Ukraine could last for decades and that negotiations with Ukraine were impossible as long as Ukraine's Western-backed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in power.

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the deadliest European conflict since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it plans to determine whether it makes sense for Russia to remain a part of some international organizations.

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: The price of gas in Europe went down below $300 per thousand cubic meters during Thursday trading for the first time since May 20, 2021, according to London’s ICE.

June futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands fell to $298 per thousand cubic meters, or to 26.8 euro per MWh (on the basis of the current euro exchange rate against the dollar, prices at ICE are in euro per MWh).

The gas price has decreased by 3.3% in total since the start of trading day.

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: A Western-led undeclared war is being waged against Moscow and Minsk, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, on Thursday.

"Today, we are being confronted by the collective West, which, in effect, is waging an undeclared war on our countries," Shoigu said.

According to him, NATO’s military activities "have been most aggressive of late."

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: Russia expels five Swedish diplomats in a retaliatory move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Sweden’s ambassador to Moscow Malena Mard was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on May 25.

"The Swedish ambassador was notified that the Russian side had decided to declare as personae non gratae five Swedish diplomats, including three staffers of the defense attache's office at the Swedish embassy in Moscow as a retaliatory measure," the news release said.

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is becoming one of centers of the evolving multipolar world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"I note with confidence that cooperation within the Eurasian Union framework continues entrenching and our association is consistently taking up the position of one of independent and self-sufficient centers of the evolving multipolar world," the head of state said.