TBILISI, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's foreign minister said on Thursday that the country would regard any increase in Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia as encroachment on national sovereignty. Last month Russia increased its peacekeeping

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appointed on Thursday Viktor Ivanov, a former presidential aide and FSB officer, as head of the federal drug control service, the Kremlin said. Since 1997 Ivanov, 58, has held various

BRUSSELS, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff, denied on Thursday reports of Moscow's plans to open an air force base in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia. "I do not know where

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia wants to increase bilateral trade with Mongolia to $1 billion by 2010, a source in the Kremlin said on Thursday. Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar will be in Moscow on a three-day working visit

RUSSIA * Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff, denied reports of Moscow's plans to open an air force base in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia * Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Viktor Ivanov, a former presidential

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian nickel giant Norilsk Nickel said on Thursday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) rose 40% year-on-year to 170 billion rubles ($7 billion) last year. Revenue increased 22% to 319.5 billion

MOSCOW. (Vladimir Portyakov for RIA Novosti) - It is too early to estimate the damage done to China's economy by the devastating earthquake in the western province of Sichuan. Home to 90 million people, Sichuan is one of China's fastest

YEKATERINBURG, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of Russia, India and China met in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Thursday for discussions on Kosovo and the drug problem in Afghanistan. None of the three countries have recognized

TEIKOVO (Ivanovo Region), May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday the country must continue to develop its Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) to meet global threats. "Our task for the next few years will be to

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom Neft said on Thursday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards increased 97% year-on-year to 22.6 billion rubles ($948 million) in January-March. The oil producing arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom said

TEL AVIV, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Palestinian militants could double the effective range of their rockets in two years, making every community within 40 km of Gaza vulnerable to attacks, Israel's Military Intelligence chief said. Amos Yadlin said in

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft [RTS: TRNF] said on Thursday its revenue calculated to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) rose 18% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008 to 59.3 billion rubles ($2.5 billion). Transneft

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Tatneft, Russia's sixth-largest oil company, posted on Thursday a 42% year-on-year increase in its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) to 9.6 billion rubles ($401.5 million) in January-March 2008. The company's revenue

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Danish coast guards detained two Russian trawlers on Thursday, Russia's State Fisheries Committee said. The first Russian vessel was detained on suspicion of poaching following an inspection by Danish border guards at the port

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Global warming has turned from a research phenomenon into a political factor. Melting ice and the extension of navigation time mean free access to the Arctic Ocean's natural and biological wealth, and

MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appointed on Wednesday presidential envoys to the country's seven federal districts. The following presidential envoys were reappointed to their posts - Ilya Klebanov to the North-West Federal District, Georgy Poltavchenko

UST-LUGA (Leningrad Region), May 14 (RIA Novosti) - The Baltic Pipeline System-2, stretching from western Russia's Bryansk Region to the Leningrad Region, will run to the port of Ust-Luga with a branch going to the Kirishi oil refinery, the Russian

KIEV, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian parliament will resume work on May 15 and legislators will vote on a package of anti-inflation bills, the country's prime minister said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, deputies from Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's

MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - The Slovakian financial group J&T bought in April a 75% stake in the company that owns the Baltschug Kempinski hotel, located near Moscow's Kremlin, a J&T Group founder and managing partner said on Wednesday.

RUSSIA * Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has made another series of appointments of personal advisers and envoys, the Kremlin said * Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appointed presidential envoys to the country's seven federal districts * The Russian government is planning