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Friday, September 11, 2009 MOSCOW: Russia will not sell Iran any "offensive weapons," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, amid reports that Russia has been supplying sophisticated weaponry to the Islamic republic. "We are not selling any offensive weapons to Iran," Lavrov told a gathering in Moscow. "With Iran, we have not done anything that contradicts our international undertakings."Lavrov on Tuesday strongly denied that a cargo ship whose supposed seizure by pirates sparked an international mystery was secretly carrying sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft missiles bound for Iran. The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged vessel with a Russian crew, was hijacked near Sweden in late July before being recovered by the Russian navy in the Atlantic Ocean several weeks later.

Thursday, August 27, 2009 MOSCOW: Russia will hand over the Akula-II class nuclear submarine&aposNerpa&apos to India after the completion of its sea trials, the country & aposs top general said, without specifying any time-frame for it."The trials are underway according to schedule, after which the submarine will be handed over to the Indian Navy," Chief of Russia&aposs General Staff, General Nikolai Makarov was quoted as saying by mediaAddressing a news conference in Ulan Bator, Gen. Makarov, accompanying President Medvedev on Mongolia tour, however, did not specify the time-frame for the delivery of the much- awaited submarine." There is no fixed schedule (of delivery), but there are no reasons for delay,"he said.Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had earlier ordered to hand over the&aposNerpa&aposto Indian Navy on 10-year lease by the end of this year.Built by the Amur Shipyard in the far-eastern Khabarovsk region bordering China, &aposNerp...

Monday, August 17, 2009 NAZRAN: A suicide bomber exploded a truck at a police station in Russia's restive North Caucasus Monday, killing at least 12 people and wounding nearly 60 others, officials said. The attacker rammed the gates of the local police headquarters in the city of Nazran in Ingushetia and detonated his explosives as police officers lined up for a morning check, said Kaloi Akhilgov, a spokesman for the regional president.At least 12 people were killed and 58 were wounded, said SvetlanaGorbakova of the regional branch of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's office. She said there were at least nine children among the wounded. The attacker and the truck, which carried at least 44 pounds (20kilograms) of explosives, were pulverized by the blast, Gorbakova said. The police building was on fire and nearby apartment buildings were badly damaged.

Monday, July 06, 2009 MOSCOW: US and Russian officials have agreed the text of a declaration to be signed by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev setting out a framework for renewing a key Cold War-era weapons reduction treaty, the local news agency reported on Monday.