Europe

BOCHAROV RUCHEI, August 22./TASS/. All foreign forces staying in Syria without an invitation from Damascus must leave the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday in comments on a statement by US National Security Adviser John Bolton.

"All foreign forces staying there without an invitation from the Syrian government must be eventually withdrawn," Lavrov told reporters.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Moscow will definitely respond to Washington’s latest sanctions and in particular, it will step up efforts to abandon the dollar in trade operations, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with International Affairs magazine. Extracts from the interview were available on the publication’s website on Thursday.

GENEVA, August 23. /TASS/. Moscow will give a tit-for-tat response to the expansion of US blacklists of Russian companies and individuals, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister called for Europe to strengthen its financial independence from the United States and set up independent payment channels as he laid out proposals for a future “balanced partnership” with the U.S.

Heiko Maas wrote in a piece for the daily Handelsblatt Wednesday that he envisions taking a “balanced share of responsibility” and being “a counterbalance when the U.S. crosses red lines.”

LONDON, August 21. /TASS/. Intimidating people with the so-called Russian threat, the UK government only compromises its own international authority and strips itself of a possibility for constructive dialogue with Moscow, the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom said on Tuesday, commenting on UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s speech at the US Institute for Peace.

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. The US ban to export high-tech dual-purpose products to Russia, to come into force on August 22, will affect certain sectors of the Russian economy, but the impact will not be critical, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The ban on exporting dual-purpose electronic devices and components to Russia will undoubtedly affect certain high-tech sectors, including the defense industry, but not critically," he said.

HELSINKI, August 22. /TASS/. In April 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses to be an extremist organization and outlawed its activity throughout Russia, thereby upholding the Justice Ministry’s requests

More than 200 members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization (outlawed in Russia) have asked for asylum in Finland, the Aamulehti daily reported on Wednesday.

20 Aug 2018; DW: Ahead of Turkish President Erdogan's trip to Germany in September, the SPD's Andrea Nahles has said German aid is a possibility. It comes as tensions between the US and Turkey rise over the house arrest of a US pastor.

The head of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), Andrea Nahles, has said there could be circumstances in which Germany would provide financial assistance to Turkey during its economic crisis.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Russia’s state-run hi-tech corporation Rostec will demonstrate stealth camouflaging for troops and military hardware at the Army-2018 international military and technical forum outside Moscow, Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov told TASS on Monday.

The camouflage developed on order from Russia’s Defense Ministry changes its pattern and color depending on the environment and will be used as coating for military hardware and the soldiers’ outfits.

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Russia, Turkey, France and Germany regularly hold consultations on convening a summit on Syria, Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Monday.