Foreign relations of Russia

Syria talks with a fresh format but few fresh ideas opened in the Swiss lakeside town of Lausanne on Oct. 15, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry seeking a new path to peace after failing to secure a ceasefire in direct talks with Russia.

BELGRADE - Despite increased tensions between Washington and Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov does not believe the two countries are on the brink of war, .

"Well, I don't think so. It is not our intention at all. We read of course statements of American military that the war is inevitable with Russia. I leave this on their conscience."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cancelled his visit to France for a meeting with his French counter-part François Hollande, reported Reuters.

Earlier, the French President questioned the expediency of a meeting with Putin after Russia rejected in the Security Council of the UN the draft resolution of France and Italy for the creation of a no-fly zone over Aleppo.

BELGRADE - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday he had detected increasing U.S. hostility towards Moscow and complained about what he said was a series of aggressive U.S. steps that threatened Russia's national security, Reuters reports.

Russia on Oct. 8 vetoed a United Nations draft resolution demanding an end to the bombing of Syria's war-battered city of Aleppo, despite an appeal from France to save the city from destruction.

Ambassadors on the 15-member UN Security Council will hold their sixth and last informal straw poll on Wednesday, with the five permanent members using coloured ballots to mark candidates they would like to block.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told his German counterpart Frank Walter Steinmeier there was "no need to fuel tensions" over the RS Day referendum.

In a telephone conversation on Thursday, Lavrov called on Steinmeier to focus instead on "encouraging the Bosnian sides to start a constructive dialogue," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by TASS.

STRASBOURG - Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic and Valentina Matviyenko, Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly, signed in Strasbourg on Thursday an agreement on cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) and the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS).

BELGRADE - Russia on Friday has accused the United States of refusing to share documents with the UN Security Council outlining a joint agreement aimed at halting the fighting in Syria.

An urgent council meeting called to discuss the agreement was abruptly cancelled on Friday amid disagreements between Russia and the United States over the joint deal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Turkey of planning to expand its territories and infulence, during an interview on Russia Today network. Lavrov noted that Turkey’s foreign policies had revealed ‘neo-Ottoman tendencies’, adding that this did not only concern Syria.