Russia

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Moscow sees Washington’s desire to drive a wedge between Russia and China, but it is not going to worsen its relations with Beijing just to make the United States happy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) program on Russia’s television Channel One.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: New requirements for entering Russia only on foreign passports for Ukrainians are aimed at stopping criminals from fleeing to Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristaiko said on Sunday.

"Entry on foreign passports will prevent alimony debtors and the violators of Ukrainian law from escaping responsibility and fleeing to Russia. Now border guards will be able to get a clear picture who is leaving the country and why," Pristaiko wrote on his Twitter account.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Polish authorities have undermined relations with Moscow for many years as well as the work of experts seeking to study challenging issues of the two countries’ history, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Sunday.

MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out at a three-story brick mansion of a chemical plant in the Russian city of Ufa on Sunday, the Ministry of Emergencies said.

There have been no deaths or injuries reported so far.

The blaze has now been limited to an area of 2,000 square meters and there are no residential buildings nearby, the ministry said in a statement.

A total of 135 firefighters are on the scene.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the incident.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The Ecuadorian authorities may reconsider the decision to take off air Russia's RT channel if the sides make steps to establish a dialogue, Ecuador's Ambassador to Moscow Julio Cesar Prado Espinosa told the Izvestiya daily in an interview published on Saturday.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Gazprom and Naftogaz may sign a contract on transit of Russian gas through Ukraine for 5 years, the volume of gas transit in 2020 will amount to 65 bln cubic meters, and in 2021-2024 - 40 bln cubic meters annually. The figures were confirmed to reporters by Gazprom after publication in the Ukrainian media.

"The numbers are correct," Gazprom said.

Following the results of gas negotiations in Minsk on December 20, the Russian and Ukrainian sides signed a protocol on gas transit and claims settlement.

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (NNN-TASS) – Moscow no longer wishes to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7), as it has other priorities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said.

There are other platforms where serious issues are being addressed, including the G20, formats for Eurasian integration and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), he said, at a seminar of the Valdai Discussion Club think tank.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The group behind Nord Stream 2 said on Saturday it aimed to complete a pipeline to boost Russian gas supplies to Europe as soon as possible, after a major contractor suspended pipe-laying activities due to U.S. sanctions.

A U.S. bill signed by Donald Trump on Friday included legislation imposing sanctions on companies laying pipe for Nord Stream 2, the project that aims to double gas capacity along the northern Nord Stream 1 pipeline route to Germany.

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (NNN-TASS) – A Russian shipyard will deliver five nuclear-powered submarines to the Russian Navy in 2020, Mikhail Budnichenko, chief executive officer of the shipyard, said, in an interview published on Friday (yesterday).

The Sevmash Shipyard is preparing to deliver the latest fourth-generation ballistic missile carriers, Prince Vladimir and Prince Oleg, Budnichenko said.

The list also includes the Belgorod special mission submarine, and the Kazan and Novosibirsk cruise missile submarines, he said.

MOSCOW, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Moscow no longer wishes to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7) as it has other priorities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday.

There are other platforms where serious issues are being addressed, including the G20, formats for Eurasian integration and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), he said at a seminar of the Valdai Discussion Club think tank.