Austria

VIENNA, January 20. /TASS/: Russia finds worrisome the reports NATO countries have been moving weapons and military personnel to Ukraine, Russia’s permanent representative to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich, said at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

"We are alarmed by reports some member-countries of NATO have stepped up the deployment of lethal weapons and military personnel to Ukraine. This week alone several British military planes carrying guided missile systems have landed in Kiev," Lukashevich said.

VIENNA, January 19. /TASS/: The West faces the moment of truth, which has started the countdown in wait for the adoption of Russian proposals on security guarantees addressed to the United States and NATO, Konstantin Gavrilov, the head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, said on Wednesday.

Gavrilov spoke at the meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation, which is first in 2022.

VIENNA, January 19. /TASS/: Moscow expects a written response from the US and NATO countries as soon as possible to Russian proposals on security guarantees, Head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks Konstantin Gavrilov said on Wednesday.

VIENNA, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) – In a special video conference, held yesterday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), decided to appoint Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait, as its next secretary general.

The appointment takes effect on Aug 1, and will last for three years, according to an OPEC press release.

Al-Ghais, a veteran of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait’s OPEC governor, from 2017 to June 2021, currently serves as deputy managing director for international marketing at KPC.

30 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran's lead nuclear negotiator has noted "good progress" in the eighth round of talks with world powers in Vienna, focusing primarily on the removal of sanctions, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Speaking to reporters after the latest round was adjourned on Thursday due to the New Year holidays, Ali Bagheri said negotiations were held at various levels since Monday, and relatively good progress was made.

VIENNA (AP) — Germany is tightening travel restrictions for people coming from Britain in response to the rapid spread of the omicron variant there.

The country’s national disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, added Britain to its list of “virus variant areas” late Saturday. This means anyone traveling from the U.K. to Germany must enter a mandatory quarantine for 14 days, regardless of vaccination status.

VIENNA (AP) — The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries, and COVID-19 cases involving the variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad, the World Health Organization said Saturday.

Omicron’s “substantial growth advantage” over the delta variant means it is likely to soon overtake delta as the dominant form of the virus in countries where the new variant is spreading locally, the U.N. health agency said.

18 Dec 2021; MEMO: Negotiators from France, Britain and Germany at talks on salvaging the Iran nuclear deal called on Tehran on Friday to pick up the pace when negotiations resume, as the discussions took a break at Iran's request, Reuters reported.

VIENNA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - World powers and Iran were locked in talks on reviving their nuclear deal on Friday, with a European source saying they were working from texts discussed five months ago and Iranian officials saying they were sticking to a tough stance from last week.

The talks resumed on Thursday with the United States and Israel - which is not a party to the 2015 deal - piling rhetorical pressure on Tehran about the possible economic or military consequences if diplomacy fails.

VIENNA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Iran's top negotiator said on Thursday he was sticking to positions Tehran set out when nuclear talks broke off last week, while European Union and Russian envoys called for more urgency as world powers resumed negotiations in Vienna.

The indirect U.S.-Iranian talks in Vienna, in which other diplomats from the remaining parties to a now tattered 2015 deal - France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China - shuttle between them because Tehran refuses direct contact with Washington, aim to get both sides to resume full compliance with the accord.