The Russian armed forces have carried out strikes targeting the Fim Service transport and logistics center in the settlement of Chaiky near Kiev, where components for long-range Flamingo cruise missiles were stored, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian air defense intercepted and destroyed 313 Ukrainian drones over Russia last night, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

Just 11 actual mines were among over 200 mine-like objects located by the US military in the Strait of Hormuz, Axios has reported, citing US officials.

President Trump stated that the US had reached an agreement with Venezuela, claiming that the US had secured a majority stake in more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.

Secretary General Naim Qassem gave a speech criticizing the Lebanese authorities for surrendering without compensation and rejecting the framework agreement with Israel.

Russia's Volna Kupol Garant appears to be the electronic warfare system responsible for the declining effectiveness of Starlink—a development Ukrainian military officials have begun to openly admit, notes military expert and air defense historian Yuri Knutov in comments to Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 31 in Bishkek, and the leaders will discuss bilateral cooperation and the most important international problems, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Friday.

Russian Armed Forces struck the Fire Point enterprise in the Kiev region, which produced and stored substances for solid-fuel boosters and warheads of Flamingo missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed bilateral and international issues, as well as future contacts between the two countries, in a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian forces conducted a training and combat launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, with training warheads hitting the designated area at the Kura test range in Kamchatka, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

Iraq is planning a massive new crude pipeline linking its southern and northern fields to Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias — a project designed to render the Strait of Hormuz "irrelevant" for its oil exports, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on US President Donald Trump to continue diplomatic engagement with Iran, stressing the need for maximum use of diplomacy to reduce tensions between Washington and Tehran, according to a statement from the Turkish presidential administration.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has stated that Iran is showing no interest in a nuclear deal that would meet Washington's demands, even as he described the talks as "more robust than ever".

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump on Monday called the idea of the Strait of Hormuz becoming part of the US is great.

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to maintain the Israeli military presence in the Gaza Strip and is bearing responsibility for a possible failure of mediation efforts to resolve the conflict, League of Arab States (LAS) Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy said on Monday.

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israel and the Board of Peace have agreed that the disarmament of Palestinian movement Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip must precede the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu's office said on Monday.

The ever-expanding radius of Russian strikes – targeting a vital steel plant in central Ukraine, drone factories in Kiev, and seaborne logistics along the Black Sea are aimed at systematically dismantling the country’s MIC, RANEPA Institute of Law & National Security expert Alexander Stepanov told Sputnik.

MINSK (Sputnik) - Belarus and Iran are developing a treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership and a roadmap for the development of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, the chairman of the Belarusian parliament's lower house, Igor Sergeyenko, said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington's primary goal remains preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The information that foreign organizers and sponsors are involving Ukrainian military personnel in terrorist attacks in Africa is alarming, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting the Chinese capital at the invitation of Xi Jinping as part of the joint efforts to promote the entire range of relations between the two countries and unlock their truly limitless potential.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos to respond to Kiev's persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was "not open" to any concessions after receiving Iran's latest peace proposal.

A new helicopter designed by Russia’s Rostec Corporation and China’s Avicopter is breaking heavy-lift aviation barriers with an expected payload of up to 16 metric tons.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Equatorial Guinea is grateful to Russia for its efforts to help normalize the situation in Africa's Sahel region, Equatorial Guinean Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono Angue stated on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's external debt as of April 1 amounted to $308.8 billion and decreased by $10.5 billion, or 3.3%, in the first quarter, the Russian Central Bank said on Monday.

The Pezeshkian-Naqvi meeting took place in Tehran on May 17 and lasted approximately an hour and a half, according to press reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold negotiations in China both in narrow and expanded formats, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Monday.

The water need of the region cannot be supplied externally by tankers — both because of the scale involved and due to the Strait of Hormuz blockade, Higher School of Economy’s dean Anastasiya Likhacheva tells Sputnik.

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran is prepared for any scenario in its conflict with the United States, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday, the US Embassy in Caracas said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Secretary of Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Larijani said that he believes that Washington has abandoned the idea of a military scenario against Iran.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States has been pivoting away from Europe towards the Indo-Pacific, but it is expected to keep a strong military presence in Europe in terms of both conventional and nuclear forces, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.

The old architecture of international security — built on strict controls over both conventional and non-conventional weapons — "has effectively become a thing of the past,” said political analyst Alexander Asafov, a member of the Russian Public Chamber, commenting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks in the State Duma.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US actions regarding Denmark and Greenland have damaged trust in the United States, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in an interview published on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia and the United States are discussing differences between a potential new arms control agreement and the previous New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian forces struck energy and transport infrastructure facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian military formations and foreign mercenaries, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's foreign policy course will not be affected by any threats or blackmail, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian armed forces are deliberately attacking Energodar, the satellite city of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), with the aim of applying psychological pressure on civilians, ZNPP spokeswoman Yevgenia Yashina told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine's parliament will work on introducing the necessary legal changes in March and April to allow for elections to be held in the country under martial law, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Another shipment of Russian fuel has arrived at Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant, the last one this year, ensuring enough stock until November 2028, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again rejected the idea of ​​establishing the State of Palestine alongside Israel, saying that peace between Israel and the Arab world, including the Palestinians, could be achieved without a Palestinian state.

Russia and the United States are underway aligning the "difficult provisions" that will determine the future document on Ukraine settlement, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said earlier.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The African Union on Sunday strongly condemned the attempted coup in Benin and expressed support for the country's current president, Patrice Talon.

Japanese officials believe the US hasn’t shown enough support after PM Sanae Takaichi declared a Chinese “attack” on Taiwan would trigger Japan’s military involvement, the FT reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu will pay a working visit to Vietnam and Laos this coming week and hold meetings with the top leadership of both countries, the press service of the Russian Security Council said.

DONETSK (Sputnik) - Conflicts are flaring up in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces due to attempts by some soldiers to leave their positions, according to a radio intercept obtained by Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia and the United States are underway aligning those difficult provisions that will determine the form and fate of the future document on Ukraine settlement, and some issues require the US to make "radical changes" in papers, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Tsentr battlegroup has taken control of the settlement of Rovnoye, is eliminating Ukrainian troops in Dmitrov and are clearing Grishino in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

Troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri in Benin have announced that President Patrice Talon has been removed from power.