Russia

NOVO-OGAREVO, March 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin promised support in creating the most favorable working conditions at a meeting with investors on Wednesday.

"For my part, I can once again say that we will do everything in order to create the conditions for your work, despite all the difficulties that we face," the president said.

Putin said that he considers the upcoming conversation particularly useful, given the turbulent economic environment in recent days.

MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/: Turkey will not stop Syrian refugees seeking entry to the EU until Brussels takes concrete steps towards integration of Turkey into the Union, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said before the parliament on Wednesday, according to NTV channel.

"We will continue with our current policy, until there are concrete steps on visa-free regime, until new points of negotiations [on European integration] are open, until the agreement on Customs Union is updated. The flows of illegal migrants will fill the Mediterranean," he vowed.

SEVASTOPOL, March 11. /TASS/: The Black Sea Fleet ships sank a notional enemy’s submarine spotted by naval aviation aircraft during drills, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/: Russia’s representatives will participate in the meeting of the OPEC+ technical committee in March, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Wednesday.

"Yes, our representatives will be present. I will repeat myself: the format of our relations within the framework of the charter (cooperation of oil-producing countries) has remained as we continue monitoring the situation with our colleagues," he said.

MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/: Russia’s State Duma (the lower house of parliament) has passed the third and final reading of a bill amending the country’s Constitution.

A total of 383 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, and no one voted ‘no.’ As many as 43 legislators (members of the Communist Party’s faction) abstained from voting. Other parliamentary factions supported the document.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed his tightly guarded political plans Tuesday and supported a constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek reelection in 2024 by restarting the term count.

The constitutional change would pave the way for the 67-year-old Putin to stay in office until 2036, if he desires.

A lawmaker who is revered in Russia as the first woman to fly in space proposed either scrapping Russia’s two-term limit for presidents or stopping the clock so the law wouldn’t apply to Putin’s time in office.

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to gather chief executives of Russian oil majors again to discuss the situation on the global oil market, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"No, there are no such plans," the press secretary said.

Russian President held a meeting with participation of federal ministers and chief executives of Russian oil and gas majors on March 1, where the situation on the oil market and the coronavirus effect on the world’s economy were discussed.

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/: Russian State Duma (lower house) has passed in the second, main reading the constitutional amendments bill, which sets a limit on presidential terms, extends parliamentary powers and cements state social guarantees, the priority of the Constitution over the international treaties and the status of Russian language as the language of the constituent people.

The bill also stipulates nationwide vote on the amendments.

A total of 382 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, 44 abstained, no lawmakers opposed it.

YEKATERINBURG, March 10. /TASS/: The air defense regiment in the Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals will receive the latest S-400 ‘Triumf’ surface-to-air missile systems by the end of October, the press office of Russia’s Central Military District reported on Tuesday.

"The systems are scheduled to arrive at the end of October 2020, which will help boost the combat potential of the anti-aircraft missile regiment twofold," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/: Russia is ready to respond to any aggressor who will dare to repeat Nazi Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union, President Vladimir Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin".

When commenting on a popular Russian car slogan reading "We can repeat it," Putin recalled another famous phrase: "Whosoever comes against us by the sword shall perish by the sword."