Russia

By Peter James | AP | 20 Nov 2012

Russia's U.N. ambassador on Monday expressed frustration that the Security Council has remained silent about the escalating violence in Gaza between Israel and Hamas as the United States has blocked any action.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Morocco had circulated a proposed press statement as early as last Thursday but foot-dragging by one council member meant it "is still bogged down."

Churkin said, "To me, it looks like a filibuster attempt."

By Thomas Grove | Reuters | 22 Oct 2012

A ban on girls wearing the Islamic headscarf to a school in southern Russia has angered Muslims and forced President Vladimir Putin, who has robustly defended the Orthodox Church, to affirm that Russia is a secular state.

Muslims in the town of Kara Tyube in the Stavropol region say the ban on the hijab at School No. 12 forces their children to choose between their religion and a state education.

By : Robert Tilford | 18 Oct 2012

The Kremlin announced that President Putin today met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan. The prince is also the deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates, by the way – an important military ally of the United States of America in the Middle East.

By Stepan Kravchenko and Henry Meyer | BusinessWeek | 16 Oct 2012

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), British American Tobacco (BATS) and other cigarette makers hooked Russian women and children on smoking, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, vowing to crack down on the habit.

By Slobodan Lekic | AP | 16 Oct 2012

Russia appealed Monday to the Afghan authorities and public to provide information on over 200 Soviet troops listed as missing since Soviet forces ended their occupation of Afghanistan in 1989 — including 30 to 40 who may still be alive.

Russian ambassador Andrey Avetisyan said the two countries are preparing an agreement that would regulate future efforts to recover the servicemen, who went missing during a decade of guerrilla warfare in the impoverished nation.

By Ellen Barry and Rick Gladstone | Reuters | 13 Oct 2012

Russia’s foreign minister said Friday that a civilian Syrian jetliner impounded by Turkey on suspicion of transporting Russian military cargo illicitly to Syria was carrying only electronic components for a radar station, and that such equipment fell within the bounds of international agreements.

By Dmitry Zaks | AFP | 09 Oct 2012

Russia eyes a record arms deal and rare agreement over Syria on Tuesday when it hosts Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for the first time in almost four years.

Maliki arrived in Moscow for three days of discussions Monday that media reports speculated would conclude with the signing of a $4.3 billion arms deal that makes Russia Iraq's biggest supplier after the United States.

Source : AFP | 08 Oct 2012

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki set off for Moscow on Monday to boost defense and trade ties, but events in Syria loom large over talks between two states criticized over their support for Damascus.

Maliki’s visit, his first to Russia in three and a half years, comes with Baghdad and Moscow accused of helping prop up embattled President Bashar Assad during a nearly 19-month uprising which according to a watchdog has left more than 31,000 dead.

Source : RIA Novosti | 02 Oct 2012

Georgia will seek close cooperation with both Russia and Western powers, billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili said on Tuesday, as his opposition coalition headed for election victory.

“It is very difficult to have many strategic partners, but we have to try and do this,” Ivanishvili told journalists. “If we can build a democratic state, I believe we will have a genuine opportunity to forge good relations with NATO and Russia.”

Source : Agencies | 02 Oct 2012

Russia told NATO and world powers on Tuesday they should not seek ways to intervene in the Syrian war or set up buffer zones between rebels and government forces.

The statements from Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was one of Moscow's most specific warnings yet to the West and Gulf Arab leaders to keep out of the 18-month-old conflict.