Russia

MUNICH, February 15. /TASS/. Increasing activity of NATO in the Black Sea aggravates the region’s security situation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in response to a TASS request for comment on the statement of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who mentioned a possible expansion of the alliance’s presence in the region.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The Moscow Garrison Military Court has sentenced nine defendants from Central Asian republics detained in Moscow in December 2016 for their involvement in a terrorist organization to prison sentences from 11 to 16 years, one of the defendant’s lawyers told TASS on Friday.

The court sentenced three defendants to 16 years behind bars, one to 12 years, and the rest to 11 years, the lawyer informed.

The court proceedings began in November 2018. Earlier, three of the defendants who pleaded guilty received prison sentences from 10 to 12 years.

WASHINGTON, February 15. /TASS corr. Vladislav Pavlov/. Russian spacecrafts "Soyuz" have a "tremendous benefit" for operating the International Space Station, and can be useful as a backup transportation system for lunar exploration, a NASA spokesperson told TASS on Thursday.

SOCHI, February 15. /TASS/. Seven citizens over the age of 100 continue to work in Moscow, head of the Russian Pension Fund Anton Drozdov said on Friday in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the Russian Investment Forum.

"There are seven working pensioners over the age of 100 in Moscow. These are the people involved in science, journalism that are still in demand," Drozdov said.

"We have some information that there is also a woman over the age of 120, but I would double-check this data," he added jokingly.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have discussed the issues of European security during their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, a message by the Russian Foreign Ministry informs.

"They have discussed the state of security in Europe and the relations between Russia and NATO," the ministry stated.

Earlier, Stoltenberg said that he plans to discuss the possibility of maintaining the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Lavrov in Munich.

MOSCOW, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia, Turkey and Iran on Thursday agreed on several key directions of future interaction in the settlement of the Syrian crisis after a trilateral summit of their presidents in the Russian city of Sochi.

"It is very important that our three countries intend to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Astana process, which proved its necessity," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference, following "constructive and businesslike" talks with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts.

PARIS, February 13. /TASS/. One-sided resolution, hostile to Venezuela’s legitimate government, will never be approved by the UN Security Council, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters during his visit to Paris on Tuesday.

"As I understand, we don’t even have a clear understanding by all Security Council members of stances taken by leading actors, including the US, let alone a common consolidated text [of a resolution] that would be acceptable to everyone in this or that form," he said.

SOCHI, February 13. /TASS/. Moscow is determined to continue assisting Damascus in liberating Syria’s territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"I would like to reiterate that we will continue to make every possible effort to assist the Syrian government and armed forces in liberating the country," he said. "We will support the Syrian army’s activities that must be consistent with international humanitarian laws," the Russian top diplomat added.

SOCHI, February 13. /TASS/. The UN Security Council should be reformed by expanding the representation of developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America as a matter of priority, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a joint press conference after negotiations with his Lesotho’s counterpart Lesego Makgothi on Wednesday.

As Russia’s top diplomat said, the sides discussed the reformation of the UN Security Council.

MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky stated that Crimea’s accession to Russia is closed and ruled out the return of the peninsula to Ukraine in exchange for the abolishment of the US sanctions.

"The issue of Crimea’s territorial sovereignty is closed. The return of the peninsula to Ukraine in exchange for the abolishment of the US’ anti-Russian sanctions is out of the question," Slutsky told journalists on Wednesday, commenting on the statements made by US Deputy Representative to the UN Jonathan Cohen.