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South African president arrives in St Petersburg — administration

The mission already visited Kiev on June 16, where they held talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in St. Petersburg on Saturday, his administration said on its website.

It posted a video of Ramaphosa coming down the plane stairs. The flight arrived from Poland.

The South African president is a member of the African peace mission seeking solutions to the Ukraine crisis. Besides Ramaphosa, the delegation has brought together President of the Comoros Azali Assoumani, Senegal’s President Macky Sall, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Florent Ntsiba and Ruhakana Rugunda, special envoys of the presidents of the Republic of the Congo and Uganda respectively. They are expected to be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day.

The mission already visited Kiev on June 16, where they held talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

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Military operation in Ukraine

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The leaders also discussed some international issues

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Conflict in Ukraine no longer regional war — German defense minister

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Potential deployment of intermediate-range missiles depends on US moves — Russian diplomat

Sergey Ryabkov stressed that "any escalation scenarios, if they start to materialize, will be a direct consequence of the reckless" and "inhumane policy that is pursued by Washington and leading European countries"

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The statement’s authors stressed that blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines was not aimed at Russia alone but "above all, was directed against Germany, its interests, and economy"

FMBA plans to roll out new cancer vaccine in 2025

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Ukrainian strikes inside Russia impossible without Western support — newspaper

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US gives Ukrainian servicemen guidance on selecting targets for ATACMS — White House

The Ukrainian servicemen "are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves on an immediate need basis," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said

Putin appoints envoy for international criminal and legal cooperation

Ilya Rogachev is the first person to ever hold this office

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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

Russia to develop bilateral cooperation with Afghanistan — Shoigu

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Timing for commissioning entire Akkuyu NPP needs to be clarified — Russian ambassador

Alexey Erkhov also recalled Russia's interest in participating in the implementation of the second NPP in Turkey

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"