Russia

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft carrying three crew members successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, Russia's space corporation Roscosmos said.

Soyuz MS-12 docked with the Rassvet module at 04:01 Moscow time (0101 GMT), Roscosmos said in a press release.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Seoul plans to expand contacts in the sphere of cybersecurity at the international level, which includes Russia, South Korean Ambassador to Russia Woo Yoon-keun stated on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia is willing to reestablish parliamentary contacts with the United States in order to promote bilateral relations of the two countries, the Russian Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, said Tuesday.

Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko met with U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman and the two sides discussed bilateral relations of the two countries, the Federation Council said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States is attempting to buy allies in Europe and elsewhere and to turn them against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"I don't know how much the countries, which are the recipients of this initiative, will like an attempt to be bought," Lavrov said at a press conference after talks with his Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl.

MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft approaching the Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Russian fighter jet approached the target at a safe distance and identified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force, according to the statement.

"The Russian fighter jet returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border," the ministry said.

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A Russian UN envoy on Monday reiterated Moscow's call for direct access to former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, who allegedly suffered a nerve agent attack in Britain a year ago.

London has the obligation to allow Moscow such access under the international convention and bilateral treaties, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy told a press conference in New York.

MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with immediate effect, the Kremlin said Monday.

Putin ordered to suspend the implementation of the Treaty "until the United States eliminates the violations of obligations under the treaty or until its expiration," according to the text of the decree published on the Kremlin website.

The decree instructs the Russian Foreign Ministry to inform the United States about the suspension of the treaty by Russia.

SIMFEROPOL, March 4. /TASS/. A fire on the tanker Maestro in the Black Sea has stopped after about 1.5 months, the press service of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport told TASS on Monday.

The Turkish tankers Maestro and Candy started to burn in the Kerch Strait area beyond Russia’s territorial waters on January 21. According to earlier reports, the fire on the Candy tanker stopped on February 28.

"The last spot [of fire] was out on Sunday at 18:50 Moscow time. The ship Spasatel Demidov is keeping the watch on the site," a press service official said.

DOHA, March 4. /TASS/. The statement made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton that Russia is allegedly not supplying drugs to Venezuela is wrong, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a joint news conference with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to use the Angara-A5 heavy-class carrier rockets to launch its satellites from the Vostochny space center in Russia's Far East, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported on Monday.

Angara A5 is Russia's newest heavy-class rocket, developed by the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. It is the first orbit-capable rocket developed by Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, intended to replace older Proton-M rockets.