Russia

MOSCOW, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Washington's latest test of a missile previously banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty proves that it started preparing to pull out of the arms control treaty long in advance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"This was being prepared for a long time, long before August 2, when the legal obligations of the parties formally expired under the INF Treaty," Lavrov told reporters at the opening of a World War II exhibition, according to a transcript of the foreign ministry.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/: Floods have been registered in 19 inhabited communities in Russia’s Far Eastern Jewish Autonomous Region, the regional department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry informed TASS.

Earlier reports said 16 settlements had been affected by floods.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/: OPEC+ countries participating in the Vienna Agreement on the reduction of oil production fulfilled the terms of the agreement by 159% in July 2019, a source told TASS after the meeting in absentia of the OPEC+ technical committee.

"The percentage of fulfillment of the agreement in July is 159%," the source said.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/: The test of a cruise missile with a range prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty conducted by the United States is regrettable, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS on Tuesday.

"All that is regrettable. The United States has evidently set a course for mounting military tensions. We do not give in to provocations," he stressed.

The test of a cruise missile indicates that Washington had been developing such systems for a long time, according to Ryabkov.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/: The military contingent of seven countries, including China, Pakistan and India, will take part in Russia’s Tsentr-2019 (Center-2019) strategic drills in September, press service of the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Military contingent of the People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan are engaged in the drills for exercising in coordinated operations," the statement said.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/: If escalated, the US-China trade wars may lead to economic slowdown and even recession in Russia, a research conducted by the HSE Centre for Business Tendency Studies (CBTS) ‘Business activity of Russian manufacturing in June-July 2019’ said.

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/: About 70 people were injured in a series of explosions that shook the city of Jalalabad in the Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. However, TOLO News reported that these terror attacks did not bar Afghan citizens from attending the Day of Independence celebrations on August 19.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ultimate ousting of English invaders from Afghanistan in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Afghanistan’s ruler Amanullah Khan established diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia in 1919, and in 1921 the first Soviet-Afghan treaty was signed.

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/: A group of Russian specialists will inspect a military facility in Portugal under the 2011 Vienna Document on confidence-building measures, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/: A right hand of head of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was eliminated during an operation led by Iraqi intelligence services in the Al Anbar Governorate, the TV channel Al Arabiya reported on Monday, citing a statement made by the country’s Ministry of Defense.

The statement says that the eliminated militant used to be a "military emir" in the Iraqi city of Hit. Several of his sons are also IS members and were involved in a number of terror attacks.

SEVASTOPOL, August 19. /TASS/: The Black Sea Fleet’s forces stationed on the Crimean Peninsula and in the Krasnodar Region in south Russia have launched joint command and staff drills, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.