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Medvedev says Davos unique opportunity to discuss urgent problems

Speaking of bilateral relations between Russia and Switzerland, he noted their positive dynamics

DAVOS, January 23 (Itar-Tass) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the Davos Forum provides a unique opportunity to discuss pressing financial and economic issues.

“Davos is a unique place for meeting colleagues and discussing prospects for the global economy and national economies,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Swiss President Ueli Maurer on Wednesday, January 23.

Speaking of bilateral relations between Russia and Switzerland, he noted their positive dynamics.

“Relations have become much more advanced and multifaceted than they were several years ago,” the prime minister said.

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, government first deputy chief of staff Sergei Prikhodko and Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov attended the meeting as well.

Terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall

Afghan Foreign Ministry condemns terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall outside Moscow

The ministry’s Spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said, that considers it a blatant violation of all human standards

Russian economy proves resilience amid large-scale sanctions — IMF

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

Blast rocks military base south of Baghdad — Reuters

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

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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

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

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

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

According to Katalin Novak, Hungary’s call for the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia to be respected should be viewed as a common European demand

North Korean leader arrives at public event in Aurus luxury car gifted by Putin

On April 10, the vehicle was also spotted when the North Korean leader visited Kim Jong Il Military and Political Academy

American Abrams tanks vulnerable even to Soviet-era weapons, says expert

US President Joe Biden announced on January 25 that Washington would hand over 31 M1 Abrams tanks to the Kiev regime

Armenia has to define CSTO’s zone of responsibility on its territory, says Lavrov

On March 12, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan asked its CSTO partners to answer where the CSTO's zone of responsibility in the republic was

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

According to the president, this step will help strengthen his country’s defense potential and contribute to bolstering the national armed forces’ capabilities

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

Ivan Paskar is charged with illegally transporting explosive substances, but he does not recognize his guilt

Security guarantees on Ukraine did not apply to Crimea, Donbass — Lavrov

The Russian Foreign Minister noted that "Ukrainian negotiators came and said that, for example, on the issue of maneuvers with the participation of third countries, let's replace the wording 'if all guarantor countries agree' with 'unless the majority agrees'"

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

Unidentified man attempts suicide outside courthouse where Trump trial is underway

The man set himself on fire

US gives nod to Israeli operation in Rafah in exchange for canceling major attack on Iran

According to the media outlet, "the US administration will support the plan for a military operation in Rafah put forward earlier," which provides for dividing the city into numbered sectors that will be mopped up one by one

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

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

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

Russia’s advanced radar in Kaliningrad to monitor entire territory of Europe — source

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Ukrainians abroad storming embassies to avoid mobilization, Russian diplomat says

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Russian stock indices rising on Friday

The MOEX Russia Index edged up by 0.44%, the RTS Index surged by 1.13%

Moscow International Film Festival kicks off

MIFF President Nikita Mikhalkov, a celebrated Russian film director, declared the festival open, praising the bravery of foreign cultural figures who are visiting Russia at this time

West close to sending military to Ukraine, this would 'drag Europe to bottom' — Orban

"This military whirlpool can drag Europe to the bottom. Brussels is playing with fire and angering God," the Hungarian prime minister said

Proposals on Russian assets confiscation undermine financial system — Finance Minister

Russia urges the International Monetary Fund to resume the effort of improving the global monetary and financial system, Anton Siluanov noted

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

About 30 events in 26 countries to be held as part of Russian Film Festival — minister

The geography of work in the culture sphere was wider before but "all the horizontal ties are kept," Olga Lyubimova noted

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

Russia views the West’s encroachment on its assets as "a blatant and shameless theft for the purpose of lining its pockets," Maria Zakharova noted

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

Bentley came to Donbass from the United States in 2014

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

Global economy’s condition improving — Russian Deputy PM

The process is largely driven by increasing contribution of developing countries, Alexey Overchuk said

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

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

"We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," a senior Iranian official reported

Israeli aviation strikes towns in Gaza Strip

According to Al Jazeera, air strikes hit the towns of Deir al Balah and Rafah

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

The Russian foreign minister emphasized that the situation on the ground had changed significantly

Russian military closely monitors all Ukrainian 'novelties' — Kremlin on UAVs

Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine had developed a UAV with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers

Iran may target Israeli nuclear center in Dimona in case of Israel’s attack — TV

Ahmad Haghtalab said on April 18 that Tehran has identified the location of Israel's "nuclear centers" and will be ready to destroy them in case the Jewish state responds to the recent Iranian attack on Israeli military facilities

Two pilots of jet that crashed in southern Russia hospitalized

The plane crashed in a field in the Krasnogvardeysky district of southern Russia’s Stavropol Region

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

Donald Tusk said that German Chancellor’s call to send more air defense systems to Kiev had no relation to Poland, provided the country's geographical position near the frontline

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

According to Faustin-Archange Touadera, since becoming the president, his actions have been guided by the need "to modernize the army and take into account new challenges"

Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

At the same time, the top Russian diplomat pointed out that "there is information that not only French mercenaries, but also instructors, maybe even together, but along with some other representatives of military and special services of European countries are working there [in Ukraine]"

Drones downed over Isfahan cause no damage, says Iranian foreign minister

It is reported that several drones had been intercepted by the national air defense forces over Isfahan

French, US, British nukes all interwoven — Russian diplomat

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Israeli troops continue raids in West Bank — TV

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

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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

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US-led coalition’s aircraft violate Syrian airspace 13 times in past day

Two shelling attacks on the positions of Syrian government army by the Jabhat al-Nusra groups were reported in the Idlib de-escalation zone

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.

Lavrov labels way West ramping up sanctions against Russia as mindless

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US agrees to withdraw troops from Niger — Washington Post

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It has reached 911 centimeters

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"The effect of the customs duty totaling 35%, renewed in December 203 in respected of imported perfumery, cosmetics and home care products will cover certain new positions of these products from unfriendly countries," the ministry said

BRICS looking at creating common digital payment platform

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Arnulf Damerau said that he provided details of the meeting, along with evidence and a list of names of those involved, to US and European intelligence agencies

Russia ready for Ukraine talks, but not with Zelensky — Lavrov

The first negotiations between Russia and Ukraine after the start of the special military operation took place in early March 2022 in Belarus, but they did not bring tangible results

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

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Fox News said the Jewish state delivered a limited strike on Iran

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Ukrainian drone damages energy infrastructure in Russia’s Kaluga Region

There are no casualties, Governor Vladislav Shapsha said

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

Russia won’t allow NATO to move closer in Ukraine — Lavrov

There is still no full clarity regarding the future of Ukraine's western regions, the Russian foreign minister went on to say

Shoigu orders additional tank protection sets for Ukraine operation

The minister also inspected the training process in Omsk Armor Engineering Institute

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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

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Ukrainian trace obvious in Crocus City Hall attack — Russian prosecutor general

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

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Putin signs law on holding World Friendship Games

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Russian economy positively influences neighboring countries — Deputy PM

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US House passes procedural vote on Ukraine aid bill

It cannot be ruled out that the House of Representatives may pass this package as early as Saturday

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

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Armenia’s relations with Russia not at their highest — top diplomat

Ararat Mirzoyan also said that Yerevan is currently making efforts to expand cooperation with the European Union and the United States

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Chinese analyst sees US veto on Palestine as reflection of arrogance, double standards

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Russian defense chief checks implementation of orders to develop drones

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Russian government increases customs duties on beer from unfriendly countries

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