Russia

MOSCOW, January 15. / TASS /: Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday, proposed to provide monthly payments for children aged 3-7 starting on January 1, 2020. According to the President, these payments will be received by families whose incomes do not exceed one living wage per person, and the procedure for receiving these funds will be as simple as possible.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed entrusting the State Duma (lower house) with power to nominate prime minister, deputy prime ministers and federal ministers, adding that the president will be obliged to appoint the nominated candidates, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly (parliament) on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday.

The Address to the Federal Assembly is one of the most important annual events on the president’s schedule. The document, which outlines the goals and tasks for the country, becomes the guideline for the government and the parliament to follow.

Here are the highlights from this year's Presidential Address:

On Russia’s demographic situation

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: The Russian government has resigned, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced. 

President Vladimir Putin thanked Dmitry Medvedev’s government for its work. "For my part, I also want to thank you for everything that was done at this stage of our joint work, I want to express satisfaction with the results that have been achieved," the president told a meeting with the cabinet of ministers.

"Not everything was done, but everything never works out in full," Putin said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he wanted to give parliament the power to choose Russia’s prime minister along with other responsibilities, but said he would like to keep Russia’s strong presidential system in place.

The comments, at Putin’s state of the nation address, come as observers watch for clues as to how he might reform the political system before 2024 when his current presidential term ends and the constitution requires him to step down.

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/: The United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy is destructive as it is geared to divide the countries of that region into "interest groups," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sri Lanka’s The Daily News newspaper.

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/: About 1,000 people and 59 vehicles have left militants-controlled areas of the Idlib de-escalation zone via the al-Hader and Habit humanitarian corridors, Major General Yuri Borenkov, chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Monday.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Russia’s first two amphibious assault ships will be laid at the Zaliv shipyard in Crimea in early May, a defense industry source told TASS on Monday.

"In line with the plan, the helicopter carriers are to be laid in early May, [the ceremony is] to coincide with celebrations of the 75th anniversary of victory [over the Nazi Germany]," the source said.

In his words, the ceremony is supposed to take place on VE Day (May 9), with the participation of top officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry, but the exact date is yet to be announced.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Iran’s airstrike on the Ain Al-Asad US air base in Iraq was a ‘necessary action,’ Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by the country’s IRNA news agency on Monday.

"[US President Donald] Trump was mistaken, arrogantly believing that killing one person would stop resistance. As a result, the United States increased the cost of their presence in the region," Amir Hatami said during a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Ali Abdullah Ayyoub.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander Khalifa Haftar, who left Moscow early on Tuesday without signing a ceasefire deal with the the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj, said the proposed document ignored some of LNA’s demands.

"The draft [agreement] ignores many of the Libyan army’s demands," the Al Arabiya TV channel quoted him as saying.