The Kremlin on Friday hailed what it said looked like the desire of Italy, France and ​Germany to resume dialogue on Ukraine with Russia as a "significant shift" ‌which matched its own view of how the situation should evolve.

Sergey Karaganov, a former adviser to Putin, warned that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons if it came close to defeat.

PUTIN’S former minster and IT guru was shot dead at his home, in the latest mystery death linked to Moscow power structures. Alexey Sklyar, 50, who also served as vice-president of the

Russia said on Thursday that its was unacceptable for the West to keep claiming that Russia and China threatened Greenland, and said the crisis over the territory showed the double-standards of Western powers which claimed moral superiority.

Over more than two decades, Russia has built deep ties inside Venezuela’s military, energy sector, and political elite -- connections analysts say could persist despite the capture of Nicolas Maduro.