Russia

14 Jan 2019; DW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kano, on Monday to discuss a plan to finally end World War II hostilities.

The talks revolved around four disputed islands, which Moscow calls the Kuril Islands and Tokyo dubs its Northern Territories.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Monday marked a "first round of Russian-Japanese talks on the problem of reaching a deal between the two countries."

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. The Spektr-R space radio telescope’s transmission device failure may have been caused by cosmic radiation accumulated in the spacecraft’s electronics during the past eight years, a source in the Russian space industry informed TASS on Monday.

"The specialists cite the influence of the radiation dosage accumulated during the flight period in the satellite’s electronic component base as a possible cause for the failure of the Spektr-R receiving and transmitting device," the agency’s source informed.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. The onboard systems of Russia’s radio telescope Spektr-R operate normally according to the United States’ research data reception station, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Monday.

"A research data reception station in the United States has managed to identify the carrier frequency of the separate research data transmitter of the space apparatus Spektr-R, which is indirect evidence the onboard systems operate in accordance with the built-in algorithm," Roscosmos said.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described as unacceptable the actions of US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell who earlier sent letters to German companies warning them of possible US sanctions over their participation in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

"Of course, this is unacceptable. This is not part of the ambassador's responsibilities, to say the least. In fact, it contradicts them," Zakharova told Rossiya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. The United States has not handled well its role as an international arbiter and failed at ensuring global security, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Zvezda TV channel on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Washington cannot force Moscow to change its policy and Russia does not have tools either to influence the US political course, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty weekly newspaper published on Tuesday.

"Despite the fact that the United States is the world’s largest economy, it does not have tools that could force Russia to abandon its sovereign policy," Peskov said commenting on Washington’s sanctions.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s space agency says another attempt by its specialists to establish contact with an orbiting radio telescope has failed.

The Spektr-R satellite is continuing to transmit signals, but scientists have been unable to control the satellite since Friday.

Alexander Bloshenko, an adviser to the Roscosmos space agency, was quoted by the state news agency Tass as saying that Sunday’s attempt to restore contact had failed. Another attempt is expected on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The Russian Navy plans to place more than 30 Poseidon strategic nuclear-capable underwater drones on combat duty, a source in the domestic defense industry told TASS on Saturday.

"Two Poseidon-carrying submarines are expected to enter service with the Northern Fleet and the other two will join the Pacific Fleet. Each of the submarines will carry a maximum of eight drones and, therefore, the total number of Poseidons on combat duty may reach 32 vehicles," the source said.

MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. The Roscosmos state corporation is studying the possibility of organizing tourist missions via Yuri Gagarin’s route and is conducting negotiations with potential partners, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with RBC.

Space tourism should not necessarily be connected with the International Space Station (ISS), he said. "Let’s say, orbital flights on Yuri Gagarin’s route is a good issue for tourists. We already started negotiations with potential partners, who are interested in this option," Rogozin reported.

MOSCOW, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday slammed the recent statements of Japan on the peace treaty with Russia as an attempt to stir up tensions around four disputed Pacific islands.

The ministry said it had summoned Japanese Ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki and told him it had drew attention to Tokyo's recent remarks, in particular, those about the need to prepare the inhabitants for the transfer of the islands to Japan and about dropping a demand for compensation from Russia.