Russia

MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/: Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donbass republics may carry out an all-for-all prisoner exchange before the year ends, Center for Current Politics Director Alexei Chesnakov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Monday.

"An exchange of all designated prisoners is possible, it could take place before the end of the year, around Christmas," the expert pointed out.

MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky are scheduled to hold a meeting on Monday after the Normandy Four summit in Paris, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

"The meeting [between Putin and Zelensky - TASS] will take place. There is an agreement on it. Everything will fit the format that the summit’s organizers, the French, will suggest, obviously after all events [of the summit] end," Ushakov said. Speaking on how long the meeting would last, he noted that "this depends on the leaders."

KALININGRAD, December 8. /TASS/: Russia and Ukraine are discussing the total allowable fish capture level in the Sea of Azov within the framework of the protocol on quotas, head of the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov told reporters.

"We held the commission meeting. We are discussing with them [with Ukraine - TASS] the total allowable capture level that can be in the Sea of Azov," the official said.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: The latest Atlet armored vehicle developed by Military Industrial Company will enter state trials in the spring of 2020, the company’s press office told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Atlet is completing preliminary tests and the stage of state trials is scheduled to begin for it in the spring of next year. One prototype is currently in disassembly and will probably go for state trials. The second prototype will undergo tests for its resistance to shelling and explosions," the company said.

MOSCOW, Dec 8 (NNN-TASS) – Russia will not reopen its gas supplies to Ukraine, until both sides agree on all essential points of a gas deal, Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said, in a television interview.

“We need to agree on all the essential points of this deal. Then we can resume cooperation, including our gas supplies to Ukrainian territory. This, by the way, will really be beneficial for Ukrainian citizens,” Medvedev said, in the interview.

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/: The Russian Embassy in Ankara has extended an official invitation to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on 9 May 2020, the Izvestiya newspaper reported on Saturday.

The administration of the Turkish president and the Turkish Embassy in Moscow have not yet responded to Izvestiya's request for comment at the moment of publication.

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin has met with Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) David Beasley to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Middle East, Venezuela and North Korea, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/: Russia will implement the project on the modernization of Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordow, which has been suspended as of now, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday.

"We are taking a break now. We don’t abandon the project. It will be fully implemented," he said.

He noted however that Russia will need time to react to the new circumstances, i.e. Iran’s injecting gas to the centrifuges at Fordow and the United States’ imposing new sanctions against this facility from December 15.

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/: Participants in the NATO summit in London have confirmed the concept of a dual approach to Russia, Russia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin told Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

"When it comes to Russia, here we saw, just like before, a confirmation of the policy of a dual approach," Kelin said. "This policy is actually many years old, and it includes military pressure and maintaining dialogue. There is little dialogue, but a lot of military pressure," he added.

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/: Ukraine can receive Russian gas directly at a lower price compared to reverse-flow supplies, but a win-win solution has to be found, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the Vesti v Subbotu (News on Saturday) TV program.

"Whether they (the Ukrainian authorities - TASS) want that or not, it is clear that in this case it is necessary to agree on some kind of zero option. One may like it or not, but that should be a mutually beneficial solution for both parties," he said commenting on the Russian-Ukrainian gas talks.