* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the country intended to pay off $20.8 billion of its debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations ahead of schedule, with a premium of $1 billion
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 04:27 GMT
MOSCOW, June 20 (RIA Novosti) – President Vladimir Putin will hold his first meeting with Italy's new Prime Minister and former European Commission chief Romano Prodi, who arrives in Moscow at his invitation Tuesday, a Kremlin official said.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 05:04 GMT
KIEV, June 20 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine's parliament resumes plenary sessions Tuesday following a six-day recess in a bid to help break a deadlock in efforts to form a parliamentary coalition and government.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 05:43 GMT
The standoff between bailiffs and residents of a village near Moscow continued on Tuesday morning, after dozens of tenants spent the night guarding their houses that a court had earlier deemed illegal. Riot police and court bailiffs arrived at the site a day earlier urging the tenants to move to new apartments provided by the local government.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 05:52 GMT
Moscow called for the immediate release of Russian diplomats taken hostage in Iraq by a group linked to Al-Qaeda which has given Russia 48 hours to pull out of Chechnya. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, which groups eight armed factions led by Al-Qaeda, had claimed responsibility for the abduction.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 05:52 GMT
MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's newest investment index will open Tuesday at 556.52 points, down 0.04% on the previous day's trading, following Monday evening's sessions on major world trading floors.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 06:13 GMT
YEKATERINBURG, June 20 (RIA Novosti) – More than 400 domestic and foreign arms manufacturers will participate in an international arms exhibition to be held in the Urals region next month, a local industry official said Tuesday.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 06:53 GMT
The United States and Russia have extended the U.S.-funded program that pays for the dismantling of weapons of mass destruction inherited by Russia from the former Soviet Union, the White House said Monday
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 07:26 GMT
Ukraine revived their hopes of advancing to the World Cup's second round with a crushing 4–0 victory over Saudi Arabia in World Cup Group H on Monday.
// Jun. 20, 2006 - 07:30 GMT