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Japanese foreign minister's visit to Russia postponed by mutual agreement

MOSCOW, April 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Russia, scheduled for the end of April, has been postponed by mutual agreement, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich has said.

“We discussed a possibility of conducting a session of the intergovernmental commission for trade and economic issues. Fumio Kishida is co-chairman of the commission,” Lukashevich said on Thursday.

“However, the session has been cancelled by mutual consent. Its new date will be coordinated later,” he said.

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Foreign policy Russian Foreign Ministry Japan

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

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"

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

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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%

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

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

Number of flooded residential buildings in Russia drops to 16,200

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

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Lavrov labels way West ramping up sanctions against Russia as mindless

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

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

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

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One crew member of jet crashed in Stavropol Region killed, search for another continues

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Switzerland does not suit Russia for negotiations on Ukraine — Lavrov

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

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

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Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

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Kiev ordered mandatory evacuation from Kharkov Region to accommodate mercenaries

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Proposals on Russian assets confiscation undermine financial system — Finance Minister

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

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

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North Korean agriculture committee’s delegation sets off on visit to Russia

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Russian defense chief checks implementation of orders to develop drones

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Major Western investor accuses Zelensky's office of extorting millions of euros

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

G7 leaders to decide on Russian assets use — Italian Deputy PM

Recommendations on opportunities of using frozen Russian assets in interests of Ukraine will be presented before the G7 summit in June 2024

UN secretary general urges Azerbaijan, Armenia to normalize relations

Stephane Dujarric noted that the secretary general "encourages the parties to continue the delimitation and demarcation of the remaining sections of the border and tackle all outstanding bilateral issues toward achieving full normalization of relations."

Russian Cabinet expands list of perfumery, cosmetic products subjected to import duty

"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

Hungarians in western Ukraine should get their rights back, Budapest says

"The Hungarian community’s opportunities to use its native language in the fields of education, culture, media and self-governance have been significantly limited," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto specified

US agrees to withdraw troops from Niger — Washington Post

The decision was sealed in a meeting between US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Niger’s prime minister, Ali Lamine Zeine

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

Izvestia correspondent Semyon Eremin killed in special operation zone

The tragedy occurred near the village of Priyutnoye located on the border of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye Region

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

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

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

Stoltenberg said NATO believes Ukraine has the right to strike "legitimate military targets" inside Russia

Kremlin declines to comment on alleged assassination attempt on Zelensky in Poland

The Security Service of Ukraine announced earlier that in a joint operation with law enforcement agencies in Ukraine and Poland it thwarted an attempt to assassinate Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky

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

West can’t comprehend Russia’s resilience — Lavrov

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Israeli aviation strikes towns in Gaza Strip

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

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

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

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West wants to make Transnistria hotbed of tension — Lavrov

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BRICS looking at creating common digital payment platform

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

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

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

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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

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

Russian government increases customs duties on beer from unfriendly countries

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Blast rocks military base south of Baghdad — Reuters

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

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Two pilots of jet that crashed in southern Russia hospitalized

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Israeli troops continue raids in West Bank — TV

According to Al Jazeera, Israeli security forces have killed at least five people over the past 24 hours

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

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

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Ukraine’s military loses positions near Avdeyevka, says DPR

Igor Kimakovsky said that Ukrainian forces suffered heavy casualties among personnel and military hardware, including Western equipment

BRICS’ expansion makes it much stronger — senior Russian diplomat

Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia, became full-fledged members of BRICS from January 1, 2024

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

Explosions reported in several Ukrainian regions

Blasts were also reported in the city of Dnepr and the Kiev-controlled city of Zaporozhye

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

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

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US House passes procedural vote on Ukraine aid bill

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

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Unidentified man attempts suicide outside courthouse where Trump trial is underway

The man set himself on fire

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French president says creating Israeli-type air defense network for Ukraine impossible

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

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