In August, a group of Russian environmentalists were walking along a beach on the Black Sea, just outside the walls surrounding a majestic palace that has been linked to President Vladimir Putin.
Russia, one of the few powers to maintain links with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has sent an invitation for talks to the head of the opposition Syria National Coalition.
A Syrian government delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad on Thursday began talks at the Russian foreign ministry on the crisis in the country.
Russia's upper house of parliament was due Wednesday to vote for a bill barring Americans from adopting the country's children, in retaliation for a new piece of human rights legislation in the US.
A bitter cold snap in Russia has claimed 123 lives in the past 10 days, an official said Tuesday, with the early freeze testing authorities in a country used to notoriously tough winters.
Russia said on Monday it would be "political suicide" for the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if it used chemical weapons against the armed opposition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in New Delhi on Monday to tighten defence ties and boost trade with India, a traditional ally and one of Russia's top clients for arms sales.
Russian investigators on Monday opened a third criminal case against an opposition leader who poses one of the main challenges to President Vladimir Putin in opinion polls.
Tens of thousands of petitioners are calling for US President Barack Obama to escalate the diplomatic feud that led Moscow to propose a law barring Americans from adopting Russian children.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday denounced the West's "dangerous" stance in support of Syrian rebels seeking to unseat President Bashar al-Assad.
US adoption agencies expressed deep concern Thursday after President Vladimir Putin backed legislation making it illegal for Russian children to be adopted by Americans.
Nazarbayev emphasized that the presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus are intent on transforming the Customs Union and the ensuing Single Economic Space into a solid alliance that would attract other nations.
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Russian, American and Canadian astronauts blasted off on Wednesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan bound for the International Space Station (ISS).
Russia sought Wednesday to expand its influence over former territories during integration talks that Washington has cast as a bid to "re-Sovietise" the region.