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Conflict in Syria

Agreement on Syria step in right direction — UAE top diplomat

According to the minister, the session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Moscow on the topic that "causes concern among Arab countries - Iran’s interference into their internal affairs"

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) welcome the agreement between Russia and United States on ceasefire in Syria and consider it as a step in the right direction, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Friday.

"I welcome the agreement between Russia and US on ceasefire in Syria," he said after the session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Moscow. "We think this is a step in the right direction which will allow to come closer to the resolution of the conflict," he added.

Al Nahyan said that other issues were discussed as well at the session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum. "We had a great opportunity to discuss the situation in the Middle East, crises in Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, as well as those difficulties that Syria’s neighbor countries - Iraq and Jordan - faced," the foreign minister noted.

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The session also focused on the topic that "causes concern among Arab countries - Iran’s interference into their internal affairs, Tehran’s support for terrorist groups, disrespect of countries’ sovereignty," he said.

The participants in the session also discussed cooperation in the sphere of culture and science. "We agreed on a practical thing - the possibility of establishing an Arab Center of Science and Culture in Moscow. We think that such center will allow to strengthen relations between Russia and Arab countries," the foreign minister said.

On Monday night Russia and the United States released a joint statement saying that the ceasefire will take effect in Syria at 00:00 Damascus Time on February 27.

"The United States of America and the Russian Federation, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and seeking to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis with full respect for the fundamental role of the United Nations, are fully determined to provide their strongest support to end the Syrian conflict and establish conditions for a successful Syrian-led political transition process, facilitated by the UN," the joint statement of the United States and Russia said.

The statement points out that the cessation of hostilities is to be applied to all parties to the Syrian conflict but for Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State) and Jebhat an-Nusra (both are banned in Russia) "or other terrorist organizations designated by the UN Security Council."

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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

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

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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

Military base near Iran’s Isfahan hit following attack — newspaper

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

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Moscow International Film Festival kicks off

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US House passes procedural vote on Ukraine aid bill

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

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

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Putin signs law on holding World Friendship Games

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Russian stock indices rising on Friday

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

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Shoigu orders additional tank protection sets for Ukraine operation

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BRICS’ expansion makes it much stronger — senior Russian diplomat

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

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Ukrainian president admits Russian troops’ advancement

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

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

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

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

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Kiev ordered mandatory evacuation from Kharkov Region to accommodate mercenaries

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

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Russian economy positively influences neighboring countries — Deputy PM

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

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Russia open to help resolve situation in Sudan — ambassador

Andrey Chernovol recalled that the Russian embassy is currently located in the temporary capital of Sudan, Port Sudan, and diplomats are in contact with the country's official authorities

Final statement by G7 top diplomats to call for supplying more air defenses to Kiev

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister said Kiev required US-made Patriot systems and Italian-French Samp-T theatre antimissile systems

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

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

"They would have been scared had anyone come down on them with similar ferocity," the Russian foreign minister added

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

Musk says he will not vote for Biden in presidential election

The billionaire commented on his interview with CNBC, published in May last year, when Musk said that he voted for Biden in the 2020 elections

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

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

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

Bentley came to Donbass from the United States in 2014

Over 40 nations want to join BRICS — Russian lawmaker

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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

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

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

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

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Proposals on Russian assets confiscation undermine financial system — Finance Minister

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Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

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

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Ukraine turns from sovereign country into Western protectorate, Hungarian PM says

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

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US blocks Security Council resolution granting full UN membership to Palestine

A total of 12 countries, including Russia and China, voted in favor of the document

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

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

Emmanuel Macron added that Europe’s resources are limited, and the European Union will continue helping Kiev keeping in mind its own reserves

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

Pipeline explodes in Kharkov Region

The exact location of the damaged pipeline or the causes of the incident is not reported

MFA says Kiev legalizes capture of country by making agreements with Warsaw

According to Zakharova, when addressing the national parliament with a request to approve special rights for citizens of another state, the country's president "essentially allows them everything"

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

Switzerland does not suit Russia for negotiations on Ukraine — Lavrov

The Foreign Minister pointed to the fact that Switzerland is on board with all Western sanctions

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

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

Israel may have used banned white phosphorus munitions while shelling Lebanon — TV

On Wednesday night, the Israel Defense Forces press office reported that Israeli fighter jets struck "significant Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure used by the terrorist organization’s aerial defense system" in Lebanon

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

Russian forces destroy Ukrainian army’s aircraft park near Nikolayev — defense ministry

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Lavrov labels way West ramping up sanctions against Russia as mindless

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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

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

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Russian economy proves resilience amid large-scale sanctions — IMF

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

Iran says drones downed over Isfahan launched from country's territory

"A failed attack with a few quadcopters that were shot down cannot be considered a real attack anywhere in the world," a spokesman for Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace said

Russia to begin next week clinical trials of anti-COVID-19 vaccine for children

This is for the age group of 6 to 11 years old

Press review: Ukraine, Israel vie for EU’s attention and Georgia passes controversial bill

Top stories from the Russian press on Thursday, April 18th

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

Izvestia correspondent Semyon Eremin killed in special operation zone

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FSB declassifies archival evidence on Nazi executions of Poles, Katyn case

There are many accounts of interrogations of Poles who served with the Germans in the Smolensk Region, forensic expert of the Budapest City Royal Court, Imre Szecsody, and other key figures involved

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

US unable to meet declared goals in other countries — Lavrov

As an example, the Russian foreign minister cited the relations between the United States and Haiti

Russia’s sanitary watchdog trains African colleagues on using mobile labs

The exercise involved two mobile laboratories based on Kamaz vehicles, which Russian President Vladimir Putin presented to his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni as a gift at the Russia-Africa summit

Ukrainian drones continue to fly over Zaporozhye NPP — press service

On April 19, the Ukrainian military attacked the training center of Zaporozhye NPP again, but the drone was neutralized over the roof of the building

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

West frightens voters by 'Russian threat' to win elections — Lavrov

The top Russian diplomat pointed out that the anti-Russian rhetoric of Western politicians in power intensifies as the elections approach

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

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

Russia to scrap moratorium on intermediate missiles if US deploys them anywhere — MFA

Sergey Ryabkov said the US seeks to maintain military superiority in a great variety of areas

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

The first Konteiner radar went on combat duty in the Volga area region of Mordovia on December 1, 2019

Russian forces destroy Ukrainian command post, two S-300 missile launchers over day

Russian forces improved their frontline positions and repelled a Ukrainian army counterattack in the Donetsk area where the enemy lost roughly 590 troops over the past day, the ministry reported

UK imposes sanctions against leading Iranian military figures — Foreign Office

Restrictions have been imposed on Sayyed Javad Musavi, commercial director of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), which is responsible for the Iranian ballistics program

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

The top Russian diplomat referred to a swindling trick used by a thimblerigger who puts a small round object, such as a ball or pea, under one of three thimbles or cups and asks the player to guess under which the object is, while unfairly manipulating this object

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

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, an Aerospace Forces’ Tu-22M3 bomber crashed after completing a combat mission while returning to the airfield

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

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

Wang Wen stated that it’s still very hard to achieve a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Founder of neo-Nazi cell in Crimea flees to Georgia — source

According to the official, the investigation established that Mikhail Maurov planned to travel to Ukraine to join the ranks of a right-wing Ukrainian organization called the Freedom of Russia Legion

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

BRICS looking at creating common digital payment platform

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that BRICS nations have already established a special channel for information exchange between their central banks

Russian government increases customs duties on beer from unfriendly countries

This measure is not a prohibitive one and will make it possible to make competitive conditions equal for Russian producers, the ministry said

Ukrainians abroad storming embassies to avoid mobilization, Russian diplomat says

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed the mobilization law passed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) in the second and final reading on April 11

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

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

Unidentified man attempts suicide outside courthouse where Trump trial is underway

The man set himself on fire

Crimea, Donbass to forever remain within Russia, Slovak PM tells national parliament

Robert Fico believes Moscow will win in its confrontation with Kiev

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

EU ministers to discuss use of Russian assets for Ukraine on April 22 — EU official

Earlier, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union intends to invest the first 2.5-3 billion euros of profits raised from seized Russian assets in military assistance for Ukraine