TASS News Agency

NATO's new priority is creation of the so-called "military Schengen" area  in Europe aimed at speeding up troops' deployment near Russia's borders, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Alexander Fomin told Krasnaya Zvezda.

Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades pays a two-day official visit to Moscow on October 23-24, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to a statement, the President of Cyprus will meet with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday and President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved on Feb. 7 a bill on an agreement between Russian and Turkish governments on the construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline, TASS News Agency has reported.

Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, approved a bill on an agreement between Russian and Turkish governments on the construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline on Feb. 1, TASS News Agency has reported. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent assertion that the Turkish military operation in Syria was aimed at "ending the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad" has raised eyebrows in Russia, with the Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry awaiting an explanation. 

The Kremlin said on Nov. 30 that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent assertion that the Turkish military operation in Syria is aimed at "ending the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad" had come as a surprise to Moscow and that it expected an explanation from Ankara, Reuters reported.

The newly- elected UN Secretary General António Guterres is expected to arrive in Moscow on November 24, where he will meet head of state Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reported TASS News Agency.

Turkey and Egypt will not be reopened for Russian tourists this year, according to the deputy head of Russia's Federal Agency for Tourism, TASS News Agency reported April 7. 

"Turkey will not be reopened this year for sure, and the latest events in Egypt showed that Egypt will most likely not be reopened either," Roman Skory said April 7.

Some Turkish gas importers may go to arbitration court for the recent gas cut by Russia's Gazprom, according to sources close to the matter. 

Russia's Gazprom has unilaterally decided to hike the price of gas sold to Turkish private companies and reduced export volumes without an official explanation, a private Turkish importer said on March 1.

Enerco said the gas flow started to be reduced on Feb. 24 without any official explanation, and stressed that this reduction is against the law.