Russia

BELGRADE - Russian film director Nikita Mihalkov received at the Belgrade City Hall on Friday the charter of the honorary citizen of Belgrade along with a message that he now had another home.

Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali and city assembly president Nikola Nikodijevic presented the charter, the first one to be given to an artist.

Nikita Mikhalkov becomes honorary citizen of Belgrade

BELGRADE -- Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov received at the Belgrade City Hall on Friday the charter of the honorary citizen of Belgrade.

Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali and city assembly president Nikola Nikodijevic presented the charter, the first one to be given to an artist.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is scheduled to ride a specially customized bike, based on a model used by a world biking champion, during the launch of the Presidential Tour of Turkey (TUR).

BELGRADE - The economic cooperation between Serbia and Russia sees a stable growth year after year, but it is still far from reaching the potential provided by the strategic agreements signed by the two countries, leader of the opposition Serbian People's Party (SNP) Nenad Popovic and Russia's Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Chepurin said on Friday.

US ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson said on Thursday that the United States could not continue to block attempts by permanent UN Security Council member Russia to form a tribunal for Kosovo if Pristina fails to approve the formation of the new special court to try senior Kosovo Liberation Army figures for serious crimes during and after the 1998-99 war.

About 300 US paratroopers arrived this week in Ukraine to train the Ukrainian National Guard which is fighting pro-Russian rebels in the east, the US Army said in a statement.

Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly at the Mesa Pro Series on April 16, his first competitive event since August.

The IMF expects Montenegro's economy to grow by a real 4.7 perc ent in 2015, slightly up from its previous forecast issued in February of 4.6 per cent growth.

The IMF expects the country's economy to expand by 3.5 per cent in 2016.

Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova announced on Thursday that the interest of Russian tourists towards the Bulgarian Black Sea coast has increased in the past days.

According to Angelkova, there has been a 40 % growth in the number of Russians, who have signed up for a summer holiday in Bulgaria, Darik radio reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed a possible war between Moscow and Kiev and said that he did not harbour any ambitions of reviving the Russian empire.

These statement were made during the annual televised question and answer session, which was held on Thursday.