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Lavrov rejects possibility of using Taliban to fight Islamic State

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Russian diplomat slams claims about alleged Russian support for Taliban

SOCHI, August 21. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected the possibility of representatives of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) being used by Russia to fight the Islamic State (IS, terror group, outlawed in Russia).

"I cannot imagine even hypothetically how Russia can use the Taliban to fight the IS," he told reporters at a news conference with Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic on Tuesday. "We are fighting against ISIL using all available means. We support Syria in this struggle and provide assistance to equip Iraq’s army for the same purposes."

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Military operation in Ukraine

Grossi ignores ‘elephant in the room’ in Zaporozhye nuke plant situation — Russian envoy

Dmitry Polyansky noted that the IAEA chief is being very cautious about the issue of attacks on the nuclear facility

NATO discussing transfer of ‘deep precision strike capabilities’ to Ukraine — Stoltenberg

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World’s anti-doping agency WADA still waits for Russia’s 2023 financial contribution

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said in February that the Russian side had agreed with WADA to pay the membership fee for the year of 2023

US 'not forgetting' to help itself with aid to Ukraine — Kremlin

"In any case, whatever the modality of providing this aid, de facto it is about provoking Ukraine into further hostilities down to the last Ukrainian, putting guarantted money in the pockets of the US," Dmitry Peskov said

Senior Chinese official to take part in conference on security in Russia — diplomat

The conference will take place from April 23 to 25 in St. Petersburg

Russia has significant amount of West’s funds in case of confiscation of its assets

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Shoigu orders additional tank protection sets for Ukraine operation

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UN secretary general urges Azerbaijan, Armenia to normalize relations

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Two pilots of jet that crashed in southern Russia hospitalized

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Court arrests another man accused of blowing up car of former SBU officer in Moscow

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Polish premier refuses to hand over his country’s Patriot systems to Ukraine

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North Korea conducts new anti-aircraft missile test — KCNA

A power test of a super-large warhead designed for "Hwasal-1 Ra-3" strategic cruise missile was held as well

Russia can join top three countries by lithium reserves — governor

Infrastructure is required to implement the investment project, both power transmission lines and the railroad, Andrey Chibis noted

Lavrov says Borrell let it slip that Europe ‘fighting against Russia’

Russia’s top diplomat noted that Josep Borrell may made the statement in a moment of weakness

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Russian military base may appear in CAR’s eastern region — President Touadera

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Moscow International Film Festival kicks off

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Russia’s defense chief inspects production of tanks, flamethrowers at Siberian enterprise

Sergey Shoigu handed down an instruction for the defense enterprise to ramp up the production of T-80BVM tanks, the Defense Ministry said

Russian economy positively influences neighboring countries — Deputy PM

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The law enforcement employees exert efforts to identify the instigators of this crime, Igor Krasnov said

Unidentified man attempts suicide outside courthouse where Trump trial is underway

The man set himself on fire

Russia's revenues from oil exports remain high despite price ceiling — IMF

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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Air defenses repel Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Smolensk Region — governor

Vasily Anokhin urged local residents to remain calm and refrain from filming air defenses in operation.

Russian instructors help train over 10,000 Central African troops — CAR president

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Global economy’s condition improving — Russian Deputy PM

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Ukraine’s new ethnic minorities law insufficient to protect Magyars — Hungarian president

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Russian investigators start inquiry into financing of terrorism by US, NATO officials

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Israeli troops continue raids in West Bank — TV

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Iran has no plans to immediately retaliate to attack on its soil — agency

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Russia not to go for settlement on Ukraine based on 'Zelensky formula' — Lavrov

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No plans for pauses in fighting if talks on Ukraine begin, Lavrov says

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S-500 system to be supplied to Armed Forces after 2015

Victor Gumenny said the advanced systems may solve the tasks of air-space defence and may fight hypersonic weapons

Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

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Water level of Ishim River in Russia’s Tyumen Region surpasses dangerous mark

It has reached 911 centimeters

Ukrainian drones continue to fly over Zaporozhye NPP — press service

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Ukrainians abroad storming embassies to avoid mobilization, Russian diplomat says

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Swiss parliament votes against joining task force on frozen Russian assets

The group contains US finance and justice ministers, representatives of Australia, the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, as well as the European Commission

Three Ukrainian soldiers swim across Dnieper to surrender to Russian troops — governor

Vladimir Saldo called on other Ukrainian servicemen to switch to the Russian side and request the corresponding assistance

Ukrainian drone damages energy infrastructure in Russia’s Kaluga Region

There are no casualties, Governor Vladislav Shapsha said

Iran threatens to attack Israel's "nuclear centers" in case of aggression on its part

Ahmad Haqtalab argued that Israel had been conducting "subversive and terrorist activities" against the Islamic republic's nuclear infrastructure for year

Press review: Biden backs aid to Israel, Ukraine and Russia assets giving West legal fits

Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, April 19th

KazMunayGas, Sibur, Sinopec sign protocol on plant construction in Kazakhstan

Construction of the plant in the Atyrau region is planned to be completed by 2029

French, US, British nukes all interwoven — Russian diplomat

Maria Zakharova described France’s decision to place its aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, directly under NATO control as a symbolic move marking the end of "the era of an independent Paris in the international arena"

Sites for practicing ways to counter drones to be set up at all Russian testing grounds

Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has visited a testing ground in the Moscow Military District where new models of small arms developed with the participation of snipers who carried out missions in the special military operation zone were presented

Lavrov speaks of West’s agony, Russia’s approach to any future talks with Kiev

The Russian foreign minister also described Armenia and Russia as more than formal allies

Kiev lacks both troops and equipment near Chasov Yar in DPR, says retired general

Military commanders of Ukrainian army brigades "lack both personnel and the required amount of equipment" while Russian troops enjoy a considerable superiority, especially in artillery, Sergey Krivonos noted

US volunteer Russel Bentley missing in Donetsk killed — RT editor-in-chief

Bentley came to Donbass from the United States in 2014

Ukrainian POW exposes poor battlefield performance of NATO-supplied Javelins, NLAWs

He also revealed that some weapon batches contained anti-armor systems whose service life had expired

CIA chief says Ukraine could lose by end of this year — Politico

William Burns said "there is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could at least put Putin in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political settlement"

Nearly half of those present in UN Security Council hall walk out before Israel’s address

israeli Permanent Representative Gilad Erdan was to address the council after Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour

Russian economy proves resilience amid large-scale sanctions — IMF

The IMF states that the restrictions led to the need to rebuild the economy

West wants to make Transnistria hotbed of tension — Lavrov

According to the top Russian diplomat, the leaders who rule countries where they claim to be from while holding foreign passports "will not enjoy support and authority for long"

Russia delivers 34 strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure over week — top brass

The Ukrainian army lost more than 3,550 troops, four tanks and five armored combat vehicles in battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk area over the past week, the ministry reported

Participation in ‘Columbine’ movement may result in life sentence — Prosecutor General

Earlier, the "Columbine" movement was recognized a terror group