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Turkish defense minister to discuss grain deal with Ukrainian infrastructure minister

Hulusi Akar and Alexander Kubrakov met in Istanbul on April 7 to discuss the implementation of the grain deal

ANKARA, April 17. /TASS/. The implementation of the Black Sea grain initiative will be the focus of talks between Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and visiting Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov, the Turkish defense ministry said on Monday.

According to the ministry, the talks will be held in the city of Kayseri, where Akar is hoping to secure a parliamentary seat at the May 14 elections.

Akar and Kubrakov met in Istanbul on April 7 to discuss the implementation of the grain deal.

According to diplomatic sources, the two ministers will discuss the situation around the grain deal in light of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ concerns over its stalled implementation and Russia’s statements that the future of the deal, which expires in May, doesn’t look too promising in terms of exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.

A package of documents geared to resolve the problem of food and fertilizer supplies on global markets was signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul for a term of 120 days. One of the agreements regulated grain exports from the Kiev-controlled Black Sea ports. Along with that, Russia and the United Nations signed a memorandum envisaging that the UN will take steps to lift various restrictions on exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers on global market. The grain deal was extended for 120 days more in November. On March 18, Russia said that the deal would be extended for 60 days, arguing that this would be enough to assess the implementation of the memorandum with the UN.

Georgian presidential elections should be held in 2024 — parliament speaker

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Zelensky to have no input if Russia, US negotiate, ex-Prime Minister says

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Comprehensive partnership agreement between Russia, Iran to cover defense sphere

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US, European officials suggest returning nukes to Ukraine — NYT

US officials believe that ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine is unlikely to change the situation in the combat zone short term, but it may help Kiev strengthen its stance in case a truce is reached

Russian troops mopping up enemy positions in Yelizavetovka in Donbass region — politician

On November 20, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported the liberation of Ilyinka in the DPR

Trump ‘incredibly concerned’ about escalation in Ukraine, his NSA pick Waltz says

Trump is "incredibly concerned" about the escalation that is taking place and "where it’s all going," he said on Fox News

Abkhazia did not reach point of no return, ex-president says

Aslan Bzhania believes that the recent developments in the republic have inflicted reputational damage on it

Opposition holds rally in Georgian capital to protest election outcome

The rally is attended by people that came from the country’s regions by car

Gazprombank’s UnionPay cards no longer serviced in several countries

German politician slams Ukraine’s ‘irresponsible’ strike on Russia with UK-made missiles

"A diplomatic search for balance and mutual understanding should be the goal, instead of further escalation," Alice Weidel said

Ciolacu, Lasconi to face off in presidential runoff in Romania next month — exit polls

Voter turnout in the election stood at 52.41%

Russia encircles largest Ukrainian fortification in southern DPR — security services

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Kremlin spokesman says missiles like Oreshnik are developed in secrecy

Dmitry Peskov said that he himself did not know about this work before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced it

Press review: Uranium costs soar as Moscow updates nuclear doctrine and US OKs attacks

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FACTBOX: Cargo aircraft crashes into apartment building in Vilnius, Lithuania

Twelve local residents have been evacuated from the scene

Kremlin clarifies notification process for Oreshnik missile launch

"An automated warning was sent 30 minutes before the launch," Dmitry Peskov said

Kremlin doesn’t see Trump’s future term through ‘rose-colored glasses’ — spokesman

Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as president on January 20, 2025

Press review: Russia fires missile at Ukraine plant and Biden forgives Kiev $4.65 bln debt

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Enemy losses, mercenary intrigue, humanitarian aid: situation in Kursk Region

Over the day, the enemy lost 150 troops, four motor vehicles, an artillery piece and two mortars

NATO countries engaged in full-fledged war against Russia — Medvedev

According to him, the alliance is "fully engaged" in the Ukrainian conflict

Russian forces eliminate Ukrainian MiG-29 on ground

Additionally, Russian units eliminated one munitions depot

Putin says Oreshnik missile system cutting-edge innovation by Russia, not Soviet byproduct

The Russian Defense Ministry announced earlier in the day that the country’s latest Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile hit all the targets at a major Ukrainian military-industrial enterprise in Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) with its MIRVed warheads

Russians liberate about 8 square kilometers east of Velikaya Novosyolka in Donbass region

Earlier, Rogov said Russian forces had pushed toward that locality from Novodonetskoye in the southeast and Yasnaya Polyana in the northeast

Lukashenko grants asylum to Schmidt persecuted on political grounds by Poland

The head of state also approved citizenship applications from foreign nationals and stateless persons residing in the country

Shooting took place near Israeli embassy in Jordan — TV

Adjacent streets are blocked by security forces

Putin, Turkish president hold phone talks — Kremlin

The leaders also discussed some international issues

Senior envoy sees Putin’s statement as signal of Russia’s readiness for military responses

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Oreshnik missile to change course of Ukrainian conflict, Medvedev believes

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said it in an interview

Warehouse with containers of flammable liquids on fire in Barnaul — Emergencies ministry

As the ministry’s the regional headquarters reported, the area of the fire is 6,000 square meters

Gas supply by Gazprom for Europe through Ukraine totals 42 mcm via Sudzha

The volume of supplies remains the same, despite the failure of Austrian company OMV to pay for Russian gas supplies

Independent candidate Georgescu leading first round of presidential election in Romania

Georgescu is reserved about Romania’s NATO membership and he has been cautiously pushing for normalization with Russia

Japanese lawmaker praises Putin's restraint amid decision to strike deep into Russia

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the US administration had lifted restrictions for US-supplied missiles to be used for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia

Signal to West and 'red card': experts weigh in on Putin’s missile launch statements

The important message in Vladimir Putin’s speech was that "Russia does believe that the West has shifted from a proxy-war to direct war" and that the parties find themselves in "a global conflict" now, Dmitry Suslov said

NATO pours with weapons prohibited by INF Treaty to Asia — Russian Foreign Ministry

"This vector highlighted as early as by the Republicans was legally formalized under the Democrats administration and resulted in the dramatic surge of militarization in Asia," Andrey Rudenko said

Russian MFA withholds public comment on nominee for new ambassador to US

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved Anatoly Antonov of his duties as Russian ambassador to the US

Pilot killed in cargo plane crash near Lithuanian capital

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Russia’s Medvedev warns Europe could face ‘catastrophic damage’ from Oreshnik missile

Medvedev also commented on Vladimir Zelensky’s "resilience plan."

Peace deal between Israel, Hezbollah 'very close' — TV

The Ynet news website reported earlier that Israel had given a preliminary green light to a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, subject to final approval by the cabinet

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Ukrainian defense line in Donbass may soon collapse — expert

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France, UK will have to pay for their helping Ukraine strike inside Russia — diplomat

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said that what has been done by the White House is very dangerous

Moscow not ruling out Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader

The restart of the negotiating process between the United States and North Korea "on previous conditions appears problematic", Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said

Russian military to warn Ukrainian civilians of future Oreshnik attacks — Kremlin

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Russia acted responsibly in warning US about Oreshnik missile launch, Kremlin says

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Ukraine should consider territorial concessions to Russia in return for peace — magazine

Foreign Policy pointed out that Western officials should stop insisting in public speeches on the need to achieve a strategic defeat for Russia

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US missile defense base in Poland long among Russian army’s targets — Foreign Ministry

Maria Zakharova stated that the US-NATO construction project, ongoing for nearly a decade with complete disregard to Russian security concerns, has consistently been a focus of Russia's attention

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France only finishes off Ukraine by allowing it to strike inside Russia — diplomat

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"We know what kind of developments are being carried out there, but this will happen tomorrow or in a year or two, but we have such a system already today," the president said

Ukrainian military fires over 50 projectiles at Russia’s Belgorod Region in past day

A self-defense member was injured after drones dropped explosive devices on the village of Gruzskoye in the Borisovsky District; a private house was damaged

Russian, North Korean ministers of sport agree on exchanges in 2025 — KCNA

The Russian delegation has toured sports facilities and memorials in Pyongyang and viewed a Taekwondo demonstration

Ex-German Chancellor considers dialog with Russia necessary to settle conflict in Ukraine

Angela Merkel advised politicians "to be authentic" when building up relations with US President-elect dondald Trump

Biden’s decision to use ATACMS against Russia may 'blow up in America’s face' — US expert

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Russian armed forces defeat Ukrainian assault Battalion Shkval in DPR

Kiev forces lost over 440 troops in battlegroup group West responsibility zone

Houthis say they attacked Israeli military base with hypersonic missile

The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday evening that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the Israeli airspace

Diplomat mocks US Senator for talking about invading Netherlands

Maria Zakharova quoted the US Senator, who called the ICC a "Kangaroo court" and ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan a "deranged fanatic"

Any escalation scenario possible in Ukraine conflict — Medvedev

According to the politician, Western nations need to understand that they are fighting on Ukraine’s side

Oreshnik can reach targets across entire Europe — missile troops commander

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Putin congratulates Serbian film director Kusturica with seventieth birthday

Counsellor of the Russian Embassy in Serbia Natalia Klischenkova read the text of the telegram to Kusturica

Zelensky shook up by Russia’s response to permission to attack it — Lavrov

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Cyprus submits NATO accession plan to US — report

Nicosia reportedly asked to buy some military equipment from Washington as part of a three or five-year agreement, and sought help in bringing Cyprus’ military capabilities to NATO standards

Kremlin spokesman says EU will look back on its foreign policy under Borrell with shame

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Zelensky’s actions make Ukraine vulnerable to coup, says politician

"Democratic institutions in the country have been destroyed, rendering dialogue between the government and the people impossible," Viktor Medvedchuk said

Topol ICBMs to come out of service in Russia in 2024

It is planned that some of Topol ICBMs coming out of service will be used for civilian purposes as Start-1 carrier rockets

Kiev forces lost over 260 troops in Kursk direction in 24 hours — Russian Defense Ministry

During the fighting in the Kursk direction, the enemy lost more than 35,310 servicemen

Ukrainian army admits loss of 40% of territories it controlled in Kursk Region — agency

"At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers, now of course this territory is smaller," the source said

Russia to view F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine as threat in nuclear sphere — Lavrov

"During combat operations, our military will not be clearing out whether or not each particular jet of this class is equipped to carry nuclear weapons," the minister added

Ukraine was warned about possible missile strike — Pentagon

Department of Defense Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh gave no answer to the question of how could Ukraine prepare for this kind of attack

Russia’s steel production plunged in October — WSA

China produced 81.9 mln metric tons in October, up 2.9% on an annualized basis

Progress cargo spaceship docks to ISS

The process was controlled by specialists on the Mission Control Center on Earth and by Roscosmos cosmonauts Ivan Vagner

FACTBOX: What is known about Russian flight incident at Antalya Airport

A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 operated by the Azimuth airline caught fire as the plane landed at Antalya Airport on Sunday, TASS has compiled the key facts about the situation

Ukraine sustains almost 65,000 casualties from Russia’s Battlegroup North since May

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T-90M tank shows itself as best in the world in real fight — Medvedev

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Strike with Oreshnik missile was a timely and effective response to the West — Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov added that by authorizing strikes deep into Russia with its missiles, the US administration ignored Russian President Vladimir Putin's warnings about the possible consequences

Romanian presidential candidate vows to end military aid to Ukraine

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UK mercenary taken prisoner in Russia’s Kursk area — source

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Western air defense systems unlikely to intercept Russian missiles — France’s Le Monde

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State Department says US-India relations hit some headwinds due to Russia, BRICS

Kurt Campbell said that it is important to 'keep attention on the horizon'

Russia’s Sukhoi jet catches fire while landing in Turkey

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Lukashenko tells Putin situation is "starting to get tense with Wagner"

The Belarusian leader noted that they want to go to Warsaw

Kremlin sees US-led West ready to do anything to suppress Russia

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Most of Russian weapons manufactured inside Russia — Medvedev

Europe unable to wage war attrition on Russia — Ukraine’s ex-commander-in-chief

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Russia to toughly respond to Japan’s steps against it — Deputy Foreign Minister

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Weapons supplied to Ukraine cannot reach Russian territory, Spanish defense minister says

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Russia will respond ‘in every way’ to Seoul’s arms supply to Kiev — MFA

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko called on South Korean to soberly assess the situation and refrain from "reckless steps"

Press review: US lets Kiev use anti-personnel mines and Iran may halt uranium enrichment

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Cargo planes crashes near Vilnius Airport in Lithuania

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Western countries should 'be afraid, tremble' after Putin's statement — lawmaker

Andrey Kartapolov added that the special military operation in Ukraine "will continue its course until all tasks are completed"

Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine is a signal to the West, Kremlin confirms

Dmitry Peskov also noted that the outgoing US administration is taking increasingly reckless steps, increasing tensions around the Ukrainian conflict

West’s trying to turn Seoul into accomplice of Zelensky regime — Russian Foreign Ministry

Andrey Rudenko stressed that bilateral cooperation between Russia and the DPRK "is built in accordance with the generally recognized norms of international law and is not directed against any third countries"