Russia

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Li Hui, China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs, may visit Moscow next week, a source with knowledge of the matter told TASS on Saturday.

"Li Hui’s visit to Moscow is expected next week," he said.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced that the Chinese special envoy would visit Russia, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and France to take part in the talks seeking to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Friday that the city of Bakhmut was unlikely to fall to his mercenary forces in the next two days as fighting raged around Ukrainian soldiers holed up in a makeshift "fortress" in the south of the city.

The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, known in Russia by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk, is in ruins after months of intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces who call it the "meat grinder".

KAZAN, May 19. /TASS/: Russia and Iran have concluded all necessary bilateral agreements for the mutual use of Mir payment cards, Iranian Deputy Tourism Minister Ali-Asghar Shalbafian told TASS on Friday.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum event in Kazan, Tatarstan.

"All bilateral agreements between the countries have been reached. We are waiting for confirmation from the central banks of both countries as to when the system will go live. The launch date depends on the decision of the central banks of the two countries," he said.

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/: The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has designated the activities of Greenpeace International within the country as undesirable, the law enforcement agency’s press service told reporters on Friday.

SYKTYVKAR, May 19. /TASS/: The destruction of depleted uranium munitions supplied by the West to Ukraine has caused a radioactive cloud that is drifting towards Europe, Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said at a conference in Syktyvkar on Friday.

He drew attention to the fact that US President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Thursday to attend the G7 summit.

"Including to uphold, as the Americans believe, ‘common democratic values.’ The heads of Western countries under US pressure will also discuss aid to Ukraine," Patrushev pointed out.

18 May 2023; AA: Russia Halal Expo 2023 on Thursday opened its doors to visitors on the sidelines of the 14th International Economic Summit: Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum 2023.

Expected to garner more than 7,000 visitors, the expo features halal products and services with an aim to promote the halal industry in Russia, improve commercial, economic, and social relations between Russia and participating Muslim countries and give trading partners a chance to showcase their goods.

19 May 2023; AA: Russia aims to increase the cargo turnover by 155% by 2030 along the North-South Transport Corridor, a 7,200-kilometer (4,473-mile) multimode transportation network, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/: The US is not ready either at this stage or in the foreseeable future for any kind of constructive action with regard to the settlement in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on Thursday following talks with Ugandan counterpart Jeje Odongo.

"The United States is not ready either at this stage or, in my opinion, in the foreseeable future, for any constructive action regarding the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, which they themselves created the conditions for over many years," he said.

MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/: Russia will not let the unfriendly actions of other countries go unanswered, adhering to the principles of reciprocity and responding appropriately, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/: The Russian side has extended the Black Sea grain deal for another two months, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"We can confirm that the Russian side has also decided to extend the so-called Black Sea [grain] deal for a period of two months," Peskov said.

He added that, "there is a relative result in the negotiations with the participation of representatives of Turkey, Ukraine and the UN."