The Russian government's sale of a controlling stake in mid-sized oil firm Bashneft to the country's largest oil producer Rosneft should give momentum to Russia's privatization drive, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

• October 12, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused France of deliberately luring Moscow into vetoing a United Nations resolution on Syria and suggested Paris was doing the bidding of the United States.

• October 12, 2016

The scandal that erupted in the United States over allegations Russia hacked Democratic Party emails has not been in Moscow's interests and both sides in the U.S. election campaign are just using Russia to score points, Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

• October 12, 2016

Japan has protested to China over signs it is pressing ahead with maritime gas exploration in the East China Sea despite Tokyo's repeated requests to stop, Japan's top government spokesman said on Wednesday.

• October 12, 2016

The man poised to become Uzbekistan's next president will have to share power with two other senior officials because rival clans have been unable to agree on an outright leader, sources familiar with the behind-the-scenes maneuvering told Reuters.

• October 12, 2016

Oil prices jumped as much as 3 percent on Monday, with Brent hitting one-year highs, after Russia said it was ready to join OPEC in curbing crude output and Algeria called for similar commitments from other non-OPEC producers.

• October 10, 2016

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday he had detected increasing U.S. hostility towards Moscow and complained about what he said was a series of aggressive U.S. steps that threatened Russia's national security.

• October 10, 2016

Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba.

• October 10, 2016