Russia

VLADIVOSTOK, March 10. /TASS/: Russian and foreign diplomats evacuated on a special flight from Pyongyang to Vladivostok have left for Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s office in Vladivostok informed TASS on Tuesday.

There were 80 diplomats and their family members, including 13 Russian nationals, onboard the flight leaving from North Korea, where strict quarantine measures are currently introduced to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/: Russian-made coronavirus test systems, developed by the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR (the Vector institute) of the Federal Service for Surveillance in Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being (Rospotrebnadzor), have been shipped to ten countries already, Rospotrebnadzor press service said Tuesday.

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/: Moscow has been informed by the US via diplomatic channels that US President Donald Trump will not come to Moscow for the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

"We have been informed via diplomatic channels that the [US] president won’t come," Peskov said, adding that Kremlin does not know yet who will represent the US during the celebration events.

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he thinks it possible to amend the constitution to make it possible for him to run for another presidential term. However, in his words, such an amendment is to be assessed by the Constitutional Court.

MOSCOW, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Moscow city authorities threatened prison terms of up to five years for people failing to self-isolate in their homes for two weeks after visiting countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

The city government had announced a “high alert regime” and imposed extra measures on Thursday to prevent the spread of the illness in the Russian capital.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: Russia’s Central Bank has decided to suspend purchases of foreign currency on the domestic market within the fiscal rule mechanism for 30 days, the regulator said in a press release on Monday.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: The decisions to conduct federal loan bonds (OFZ) auctions will be made considering the market environment to facilitate the process of market stabilization, Russia’s Finance Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"Taking into account high volatility on financial markets, the decisions to conduct OFZ auctions will be made considering the market environment for facilitating the process of market stabilization and preventing excessive pressure on the debt market," the statement said.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: Russia and Belarus will find compromises in the energy sector, so those issues should not be politicized, Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko said in a televised interview with Belarus’1 channel aired on Sunday.

"We should not exaggerate the scale of these differences, scale them up, and most importantly, politicize," said the speaker.

According to Matviyenko, the Russian-Belarusian relations are strategic.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: The dollar-to-ruble rate on the international Forex market grew on Monday since the previous closure by 3.93 rubles and amounted to 72.5 rubles, according to the trading data.

The euro-to-ruble at Forex increased compared to the closing level of previous session by 4.89 rubles and amounted to 82.4 rubles.

A sharp jump in the dollar and the euro against the ruble occurred amid the reports that the cost of May futures for Brent crude oil on the ICE Exchange in London fell to $31.02 per barrel.

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry has corrected the Turkish-language channel Yol TV for its incorrect interpretation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s words to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ministry wrote on its Twitter account on Saturday.

The Turkish channel posted footage on a social networking site showing Lavrov and Erdogan at the March 5 talks in Moscow. The caption says that the Russian foreign minister allegedly said, "I love you Tayyip."