RIA Novosti

OSCE media rep "surprised by Russian criticism"

MOSCOW -- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic says she is surprised by Russian FM Sergei Lavrov's doubts about the organization's impartiality.

Serbia "in line of fire" over Ukraine, says U.S. official

WASHINGTON -- The United States thinks a number of European countries, Serbia among them, are "in the line of fire" when it comes to relations between Washington and Moscow.

Russian military stages drills in Crimea

MOSCOW -- The Russian army has started a military exercise in Crimea, with more than 600 soldiers participating, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti said on Tuesday.

The Islamic State (IS) group on Tuesday released online a new video purportedly showing a boy executing two alleged Russian spies in Syria.

The video, which includes subtitles in Arabic and English, shows a boy and an IS fighter standing behind the two kneeling 'spies', after which the child executioner allegedly shoots both men in the back of their heads with a handgun.

Moscow has not received an invitation to to take part in the consultations the EU Commission is due to hold with EU states over the South Stream gas pipeline, Russian government sources say.

The meeting was scheduled for December 9 by EU Energy Commissioner Maros Sefcovic shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced South Stream would not be built.

MOSCOW - Russia is prepared to continue discussions with Serbia, Austria and Hungary on ways out of the situation in the wake of the abandonment of the South Stream project, Vladimir Chizhov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the EU, told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Russia has no immediate plans to file a claim against France after it delayed the delivery of a hi-tech warship over the Ukraine crisis, Deputy Defence Minister Yury Borisov said Nov. 25.
      

French President Francois Hollande said Nov. 16 he would  not be pressured into delivering two warships to Russia, after delaying their handover due to the Ukraine crisis.
      

US director Oliver Stone wants to make a documentary about Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said Nov. 6 on a visit to Moscow, where he is working on a film about fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden.
      

Ukraine will close nine consular offices, including that in Bulgaria's coast city of Varna, reports the RIA Novosti news agency.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis, the goal is to optimise state expenses.

The consular offices were selected on the basis of least amount of work.