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☆ Russia to block G20 declaration if its views are ignored, Lavrov says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Russia will block the final declaration of this month's G20 summit unless it reflects Moscow's position on Ukraine and other crises, leaving participants to issue a non-binding or partial communique, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. "There will be no general declaration on behalf of all members if our position is not reflected," Lavrov told students at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The West denies any such intentions but says it wants Ukraine to defeat Russia on the battlefield and has imposed several rounds of sweeping economic sanctions in response to the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation". Lavrov said the West had raised Ukraine in meetings preparing for the summit, to which Russia had replied that "the issue is closed for us". "Another option is to adopt a document that focuses on specific decisions in the sphere of G20 competences, and let everyone say the rest on their own behalf," Lavrov said.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, West, Guy Faulconbridge, Felix Light, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, New Delhi, China, India, Brazil, Moscow

☆ Prigozhin's right-hand man in Wagner buried quietly near Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The co-founder and military commander of the Russian mercenary group Wagner was buried near Moscow on Thursday, after dying in an unexplained plane crash that also killed his boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. Before helping to found Wagner as Prigozhin's shadowy right-hand man, Utkin was a special forces lieutenant colonel in the GRU military intelligence service. He fought for Wagner to support Moscow's military campaigns in Syria and Ukraine, and was photographed in 2016 at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin. Utkin, Prigozhin and Wagner's head of logistics, Valery Chekalov, were among 10 people who died when Prigozhin's Embraer Legacy 600 private jet plunged from the sky north of Moscow on Aug. 23. After a deal ended the mutiny, Utkin said in a speech to Wagner fighters: "This is not the end.

Persons: Wagner, Dmitry Utkin, Stringer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Utkin, Vladimir Putin, Valery Chekalov, Putin, Kevin Liffey, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Russian, St, Kremlin, Reuters, Embraer, Thomson Locations: Mytishchi, Moscow, Russia, Russian, St Petersburg, Syria, Ukraine

☆ State-owned VTB bank to control Russia's biggest shipbuilding firm for five years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with CEO of VTB bank Andrei Kostin in Moscow, Russia, August 10, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERSSummaryCompanies VTB to control United Shipbuilding Corporation for five yearsVTB boss Kostin says the news is unexpectedPutin says there are problems at USCMOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the state-owned VTB (VTBR.MM) bank would be given control of the state's 100% stake in United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov specified that VTB would manage the stake in trust for five years. United Shipbuilding Corporation builds vessels for both the civilian and military sectors, operating about 40 shipyards, design offices and repair yards across Russia and employing 95,000 staff. Putin told VTB CEO Andrei Kostin at a televised Kremlin meeting that he supported a government proposal to transfer the stake.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Andrei Kostin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Kostin, Putin, Denis Manturov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, Manturov, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Sputnik, United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC MOSCOW, USC, Trade, Industry, Kremlin, USC JSC, VTB Bank, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin

Under its budget rule, Russia sells foreign currency from its National Wealth Fund (NWF) to make up for any shortfall in revenue from oil and gas exports, or makes purchases in the event of a surplus. The central bank restarted its own separate interventions this month, selling 2.3 billion roubles' worth of foreign currency a day, something it said it would continue to do. The bank's decision means that from Thursday, daily FX sales will total 2.3 billion roubles, as opposed to net sales of 0.5 billion roubles envisaged previously. The bank said it may defer purchases within the budget rule framework to 2024. "We may see new measures to stabilise the situation on the FX market," the analysts said.

Persons: Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow, Darya Korsunskaya, Kevin Liffey, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: of Russia, National Wealth Fund, Bank of, FX, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Moscow, London

☆ Russia to build up forces in west to counter NATO threat - Shoigu
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu chairs a meeting with the leadership of the Armed Forces in Moscow, Russia July 31, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoAug 9 (Reuters) - Russia will build up forces at its western borders following Finland's accession to the U.S.-led NATO alliance, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the governing board of the ministry on Wednesday. Shoigu called the entry of Finland into NATO and the future entry of Sweden "a serious destabilising factor". Shoigu said the number of NATO military units from outside the region stationed in eastern Europe had increased by two-and- a-half times since February last year and that they were now 30,000-strong in total. "These threats to Russia's military security require a timely and adequate response.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Kevin Liffey, Peter Graff Organizations: Russian, Armed Forces, Russian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, NATO, Defence Ministry, Russia, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, U.S, Poland, Finland, Ukraine, Russian, Sweden, Leningrad, United States, America, Europe

☆ Gazprom subsidiary files $472-million lawsuit against UniCredit in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Unicredit Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters) - RusKhimAlyans, 50%-owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM), has filed a lawsuit seeking 45.7 billion roubles ($472 million) from Italy's UniCredit [RIC:RIC:UCCDB.UL], a guarantor of a project held up by EU sanctions, Russian court documents show. The court documents were filed at the Court of Arbitration of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. In January, the same court ordered nearly $500 million of assets belonging to Linde , to be frozen at RusKhimAlyans's request. ($1 = 96.8150 roubles)Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Linde, Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Gazprom, Deutsche Bank, Linde, Industries, Ust, Thomson Locations: Petersburg, Leningrad Region, Baltic, Ust, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russia says Western bid to get Global South to back Ukraine is doomed
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends a news conference at the Russian Mission after his speech at the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File PhotoAug 6 (Reuters) - Moscow said on Sunday that weekend talks in Saudi Arabia including the U.S., China and India aiming to establish principles for a peaceful end to Russia's war in Ukraine were a doomed Western attempt to align the Global South behind Kyiv. Senior officials from some 40 countries were attending the two-day meeting, part of a push by Ukraine to build support beyond its core Western backers among countries that have been reluctant to take sides in the conflict. At its heart is a withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sergei Ryabkov, Denis Balibouse, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Conference, Disarmament, United Nations, REUTERS, Kyiv, TASS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Geneva, Switzerland, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, U.S, China, India, Ukraine, Russia

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following a closed two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, U.S., July 26, 2023. Other parts of the Labor Department report were less encouraging for Fed policymakers counting on a labor market softening to put more downward pressure on inflation. Traders of contracts tied to the Fed's policy rate now see less than a 30% chance of another rate hike by the end of this year, down from about a 35% chance before Friday's jobs report. "I think overall this still does point to a labor market that is slowly but steadily heading toward a soft landing," said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. There are several more key data releases that will shape Fed policymakers' views before the next policy meeting in September.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Elizabeth Frantz, Raphael Bostic, Austan Goolsbee, Daniel Zhao, Kathy Bostjancic, Ann Saphir, Tim Ahmann, Lucia Mutikani, Jason Neely, Kevin Liffey, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal, Committee, REUTERS, Federal Reserve, Atlanta Fed, Bloomberg Television, Labor Department, Chicago Fed, Nationwide, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S

☆ Factbox: Military interventions by West African ECOWAS bloc
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The main regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has imposed sanctions and said it could authorise the use of force as a last resort if soldiers do not restore ousted president Mohammed Bazoum to power. Below are previous ECOWAS military interventions:LIBERIAIn 1990, West African leaders sent a neutral military force to Liberia to intervene in the civil war between the forces of President Samuel Doe and two rebel factions. West African forces were deployed again at the tail end of the brutal 14-year conflict, which finished in 2003. GUINEA-BISSAUIn 1999, ECOWAS sent around 600 ECOMOG troops to preserve a peace deal in coup-prone Guinea-Bissau. In 2004, they were integrated into a U.N. peacekeeping force.

Persons: Abdourahmane Tiani, Balima, Mohammed Bazoum, Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Yahya Jammeh, Adama Barrow, Anait Miridzhanian, Alessandra Prentice, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Economic, West African States, ECOWAS, West, ECOWAS Monitoring, Human Rights Watch, Bissau . Rebels, Islamic, Restore, Thomson Locations: Niger, Niamey, LIBERIA, Liberia, SIERRA LEONE, Nigerian, Sierra, Freetown, GUINEA, BISSAU, Guinea, Bissau, IVORY, Ivory Coast, MALI, Mali, al Qaeda, Central, Northern Mali, Islamic State, Burkina Faso, GAMBIA, Gambia, Senegal

☆ Explainer: What are West Africa's options to reverse Niger's coup?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Edward Mcallister | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] A member of the ECOWAS regional force is seen at Denton check point in Banjul, Gambia January 22, 2017. GROUND INVASIONECOWAS has sent troops into trouble spots before, but never in Niger and rarely with the region so divided. Coup leaders in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali have expressed support for Niger's junta, and other countries have their own security challenges. It is not clear how big an ECOWAS force would be or what form it would take. Security analysts and diplomats have also noted apparent divisions among Niger's armed forces, who may not all be united behind the coup.

Persons: Afolabi, Mohamed Bazoum, General Abdourahamane Tiani, Djiby Sow, Bazoum, Ikemesit Effiong, Effiong, Peter Pham, Edward McAllister, David Lewis, Emelia Sithole, Alexandra Zavis, Kevin Liffey Organizations: ECOWAS, REUTERS, Economic, West African States, Security, Institute for Security Studies, SPECIAL, SBM Intelligence, Nigerien, Atlantic Council, Thomson Locations: Denton, Banjul, Gambia, DAKAR, Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Dakar, Nigeria, Niamey, U.S

REUTERS/Kevin Wurm/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. and Mongolian officials this week discussed "creative ways" to ensure the landlocked country, dependent on goodwill from its neighbors China and Russia, could get critical minerals onto the world market, a U.S. State Department official said on Friday. A U.S. State Department official briefing reporters said the national carrier MIAT Mongolian Airlines would be able to fly direct to an as-yet-undecided U.S. airport by next year. The two sides also discussed how to follow up on a memorandum of understanding signed in June by the State Department and Mongolia's ministry of mining and heavy industry. "We certainly are eager to help the Mongolians find creative solutions by which it can help take more control over mining, exploring, extracting and producing critical minerals and rare earth elements." Asked about how to ensure that Mongolia could exporting such commodities without hindrance, the official said it was in a "tough geopolitical situation", being landlocked.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Oyun, Kevin Wurm, Erdene, Antony Blinken, we've, Joe Biden's, David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis, Kevin Liffey Organizations: U.S, Mongolia's, White, REUTERS, U.S . State Department, Reuters, MIAT Mongolian Airlines, State Department, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, China, Russia, U.S, Washington, Mongolia, United States

☆ Amazon nations to set up rainforest science panel, Brazilian minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] A woman passes in front of a graffiti before a summit of Amazon rainforest nations at the Igarape Park, in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 4, 2023. REUTERS/Ueslei MarcelinoBRASILIA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Amazon countries meeting next week for a summit on cooperation to save the rainforest aim to set up a scientific body like the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to share research, Brazil's environment minister told Reuters. The panel would help produce sustainable development policies for the countries of the region while remaining independent of governments, and monitor the impact of climate change on the Amazon rainforest and ecosystem, she said. Lula has overhauled Brazil's environment policies since taking office in January, succeeding far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who relaxed protection the environment and encouraged development of the Amazon, where deforestation soared. Preliminary government figures showed on Thursday that deforestation in Brazil's Amazon fell in July to its lowest level since 2017, boosting Lula's credibility on environmental policy ahead of the summit.

Persons: Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA, Marina Silva, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Jair Bolsonaro, Lisandra Paraguassu, Anthony Boadle, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Ueslei, Reuters, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Belem

[1/3] A general view of a grain terminal at the port of Odesa, Ukraine, April 10, 2023. Drone attacks wrecked buildings in the port of Izmail and prevented ships on the Danube River from loading grain for export. WHAT DOES INTERNATIONAL LAW SAY? The Geneva Conventions and additional protocols say that parties involved in military conflict must distinguish between “civilian objects and military objectives”, and that attacks on civilian objects are forbidden. This prohibition is also codified in the Rome Statute of the ICC, which opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine soon after the invasion.

Persons: Ritzau Scanpix, Bo Amstrup, Russia's, Yousuf Syed Khan, RIA, Katharine Fortin, Michael Schmitt, Marko Milanovic, Anthony Deutsch, Stephanie van den Berg, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Criminal, Global Rights, ICC, Utrecht University, Lieber, U.S, West, International, University of Reading, Nova, Thomson Locations: Odesa, Ukraine, Izmail, The Hague, Kherson, Geneva, Rome, Russian, Nova, Russia

[1/5] Pope Francis attends a welcome ceremony at Parque Eduardo VII during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, August 3, 2023. The crowd, which police said numbered about half a million, was the largest in Lisbon since celebrations in 2016 when Portugal's men won the European soccer championships. Thursday's early evening event was the first of several with the pope for World Youth Day, a gathering that takes place every three years in a different city. One of the young people who addressed the pope before he spoke asked him "to put things right in the Church for a better future". He told the crowd the Church had room for everyone, "including those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle", and led them in a chant of "Todos, todos, todos!"

Persons: Pope Francis, Parque Eduardo VII, Portugal mobbed Pope Francis, Francis, Edward VII, Mariana Moreira, God, Philip Pullella, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Parque, Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, REUTERS LISBON, Barcelos

☆ Girl and her mother killed in Russian strikes as Ukraine reports frontline progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Two more civilians were reported killed in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, now on the front line after being recaptured from Russian forces in November. [1/5]A firefighter works at a site of an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine July 31, 2023. ANTI-DRONE DEFENCESRussian forces have levelled residential areas across eastern and southern Ukraine since they invaded more than 17 months ago. Ukraine rarely comments on strikes on Russian territory, which have recently begun to include drone attacks on Moscow. Russia's military said it had halted Ukrainian forces in the region.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy's, Hanna Maliar, Sergei Shoigu, Zelenskiy, Serhiy Lysak, Oleksandr Vilkul, Oleksandr Prokudin, Ukraine's, Dmitry Peskov, Anna Pruchnicka, Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov, Tom Balmforth, Philippa Fletcher, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Telegram, Russian, Press, State Emergency Service of, REUTERS, European Union, NATO, Kremlin, Ukrainian, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, KYIV, Russian, Kryvyi Rih, Kryvyi, Ukrainian, Kherson, State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Handout, Donetsk, Donetsk city, Russia, Moscow, denazify, Sunday

☆ Britain's banks told to justify low savings rates by end of August
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File PhotoLONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Britain's banks and building societies have until the end of August to justify to regulators why some of their savings rates are low or face sanctions, the markets watchdog said on Monday, as Bank of England rates look set to rise to their highest since 2008. Smaller lenders offer higher savings rates than their bigger rivals, the FCA added. "Firms offering the lowest savings rates will be required to justify by the end of August how those rates offer fair value, according to the consumer duty that enters into force today," the FCA said in a statement. Banks and building societies offering the lowest rates have to complete a "fair value" assessment for the regulator by the end of August. The FCA will also review the timing of changes to savings rates each time BoE rates move, publish an analysis every six months of easy-access rates, analyse how savings products contribute to profitability and, by the end of March 2024, review how firms engage with customers.

Persons: Henry Nicholls, Banks, BoE, Huw Jones, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of, Financial Conduct Authority, Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Santander UK, Barclays, Nationwide Building Society, TSB Bank, Virgin Money, Bank, FCA, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

And it can only end on the basis of justice and reason," African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told Putin and African leaders in St Petersburg. Putin gave it a polite but cool reception when African leaders presented it to him last month. Putin responded by arguing, as he has in the past, that rising world food prices were a consequence of Western policy mistakes long predating the Ukraine war. On Thursday, he promised to deliver free Russian grain in the next several months to six of the countries attending the summit. Mali's Assimi Goita told Putin: "You have shown pragmatism and realism in efforts to reach agreement with Ukraine."

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Macky Sall, Cyril Ramaphosa, Pavel Bednyakov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Russia's Wagner, Faustin Archange Touadera, Assimi Goita, Kevin Liffey, Joe Bavier, Alexander Winning, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Kremlin, Union, Reuters, South, Sputnik, Central African, CAR, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, St Petersburg, Russian, Belarus, Congo, Europe, Kyiv, Africa, Saint Petersburg, Ukrainian, Western, Mali, Central, Central African Republic

☆ African Union chair: Putin's grain offer not enough, Ukraine ceasefire needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 28 (Reuters) - The chair of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, said on Friday that proposals by Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide grain to Africa were not sufficient, and that a ceasefire in Ukraine was needed. Putin had told the African leaders that Russia was ready to supply Africa with grain, some of it for free, after refusing last week to extend the Black Sea grain initiative, which had permitted Ukraine to export grain safely from its seaports despite the war. That, and Russia's subsequent bombing of Ukrainian grain export facilities and stores, has sent the global price of grain soaring. "The President of Russia demonstrated that he is ready help us in the field of grain supply," Assoumani said. "President Putin has shown us that he is ready to engage in dialogue and find a solution," he added.

Persons: Azali Assoumani, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Assoumani, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Kevin Liffey, Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: African Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Africa, Ukraine, Russia, St Petersburg, Kyiv

"We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain each in the next 3-4 months," Putin told the summit, whose participants applauded. Last year, Russia exported a total of 60 million tonnes of grain, of which 48 million tonnes was wheat, Putin said. He said Western sanctions, imposed in response to Russia's war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation", had even prevented Russia from supplying free fertiliser to poor nations. On the one hand, Western countries are obstructing supplies of our grain and fertilisers, while on the other they hypocritically blame us for the current crisis situation on the world food market," said Putin. Visiting dignitaries were also invited to visit Russia's imperial palaces or watch a gala match between Russian and African "football legends".

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Russia's, U.N, Antonio Guterres, PUTIN, Azali Assoumani, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Thursday, WEST Putin, European Union, Union, Kremlin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Africa, Moscow, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Russian, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ukraine, Sudan, United States, France, African

☆ Russia offers BRICS partners a module on its planned space station
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A view shows a model of a new Russian orbital space station at the international military-technical forum Army-2022 at Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre in the Moscow region, Russia August 15, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File PhotoJuly 24 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's space agency on Monday suggested Moscow's partners in the BRICS group - Brazil, India, China and South Africa - could build a module for its planned orbital station, the Interfax news agency reported. Reporting from a BRICS meeting on space cooperation in Hermanus, South Africa, Interfax said it was "assumed" that the first module of the Russian Orbital Station (ROS) would be launched in 2027, with construction completed by 2032. By then, the International Space Station - one of the last forums of cooperation between Washington and Moscow as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent relations to a post-Cold War low - is likely to have been decommissioned. Roskosmos said last August that its new space station would consist of six modules and a service platform, to accommodate up to four cosmonauts, and be built in two phases.

Persons: Maxim, Yuri Borisov, Roskosmos, Borisov, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Patriot Congress, Exhibition, REUTERS, Russian, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Hermanus, Washington, Ukraine

☆ Russian central bank surprises with sharper-than-expected rate hike to 8.5%
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Pro-inflationary risks have increased significantly over the medium-term horizon," the bank said in a statement. The central bank raised its year-end forecast for inflation - now just below 4% - to 5.0-6.5% from 4.5-6.5%, and said it was holding open the possibility of further hikes at future meetings. "The much larger-than-expected 100bp interest rate hike ... underscores policymakers’ concerns about inflation risks," said William Jackson, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics. Alfa Bank Chief Economist Natalia Orlova said the rate hike looked like a reaction to the situation on the currency market, given that the other inflation pressures mentioned had been evident at the previous central bank meeting on June 9. Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina will shed more light on the bank's forecasts and policy in a media briefing at 1200 GMT.

Persons: William Jackson, Natalia Orlova, Wagner, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Alexander Marrow, Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, Capital Economics, Alfa Bank, Central Bank Governor, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Pro-war Putin critic and nationalist Girkin detained in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, helped Russia annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and then organise pro-Russian militias who took control of part of eastern Ukraine from Kyiv. Girkin's lawyer told the state news agency TASS that it was not clear why his client had been detained. RBC, citing two unnamed law enforcement sources, said Girkin's Moscow home was being searched and that he had been detained over a complaint against him made by a former Wagner employee. Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the R.Politik analysis firm, said the men who run Russia's law enforcement and power ministries had long wanted to arrest Girkin. Stanovaya said Girkin's detention was a signal that any of the bitterest critics of Moscow's approach to the war could face prosecution.

Persons: Putin, Igor Girkin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Igor Strelkov, Girkin, PUTIN, Miroslava Reginskaya, Girkin's, Tatiana Stanovaya, Stanovaya, Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: RBC, Malaysia Airlines, Federal Security Service, of Angry Patriots, Kremlin, Telegram, Investigative, TASS, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, MOSCOW, Russian, Crimea, Kyiv, Girkin's Moscow

☆ Putin tells Poland any aggression against Belarus is attack on Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, July 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused NATO member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and said any aggression against Russia's neighbour and close ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia. Moscow would react to any aggression against Belarus, which forms a loose "Union State" with Russia, "with all the means at our disposal", Putin told a meeting of his Security Council in televised remarks. On Thursday, Belarus said Wagner mercenaries had started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few miles from the border with Poland. "But as far as Belarus is concerned, it is part of the Union State (with Russia); unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation," Putin said. Poland denies any territorial ambitions in Belarus.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Russian Wagner, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Osborn Organizations: NATO, Soviet Union, Council, Warsaw's Security, Union State, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Ukraine, Africa, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Lithuanian

☆ Russian prosecutors seek 20 more years for opposition politician Navalny
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

July 20 (Reuters) - Russian state prosecutors on Thursday asked a court to sentence jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny to a further 20 years in a penal colony on criminal charges, including extremism, at the close of his trial, his supporters said. Court records show they relate to six different articles of the Russian criminal code, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation. Navalny's aides said the verdict would be announced on Aug. 4; acquittals of opposition figures are practically unheard-of in Russia. In his closing statement, Navalny told the court: "I continue to fight against that unscrupulous evil that calls itself 'the state power of the Russian Federation'." "We are not following this trial," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last month.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, Navalny's, Navalny, Putin's, Dmitry Peskov, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Cawthorne, Andrew Osborn, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: IK, Russian Federation, United, Kremlin, Moscow, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Melekhovo, Moscow, Russia, United Russia, Germany, Soviet, Ukraine

☆ Movement of cargo vessels through Kerch Strait suspended by Russia since July 16 - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

July 18 (Reuters) - The movement of cargo vessels through the Kerch Strait has been suspended by Russian authorities since July 16 following drone attacks on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, two industry sources told Reuters. Russia's defence ministry said its forces had prevented Ukraine from attacking Sevastopol on Sunday, destroying seven aerial and two maritime drones. They stopped it on July 16, around 5 p.m. local time, when there was a (drone) attack on Sevastopol," said one source, who declined to be named. Security in the area also worsened on Monday following an overnight attack on the Crimean Bridge spanning the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Kerch, Sevastopol, Russia's, Ukraine, Azov

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