The number of Russians killed by the COVID-19 last year was twice as high as previously thought, amounting to the world's third-highest death toll for 2020, according to figures released by the country's national statistics agency.

A total of 162,429 Russians died of the virus in 2020, the Rosstat agency said on February 8, the same day as the government coronavirus task force's data said 77,068 people had died since the beginning of the pandemic, including deaths that occurred in the past month and this month so far.

Rosstat's count of coronavirus-linked deaths includes cases where the virus wasn’t the main cause of death and where the virus was suspected but not confirmed.

The government task force's figures only include cases where COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, was confirmed as the cause of death, a counting method which has been repeatedly criticized in the West as Russia’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases became one of the world’s largest.

According to Rosstat, December accounted for the highest number of deaths since April -- 44,435. That’s when infections in Russia soared and officials regularly reported over 27,000 new coronavirus cases daily.

Rosstat's data also showed that the number of deaths from all causes last year grew by 323,800, or nearly 18 percent, compared to 2019.

The statistics office found that Russia's population shrank last year by its highest level in 15 years.

Russia has recently eased some of its pandemic restrictions, saying the situation has improved.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has allowed nightclubs and restaurants to open after weeks of being closed.

More people are also allowed in theaters, cinemas, and concert halls.

Children have also been permitted to return to school and students to attend universities.

Russia has reported more than 3.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases, the fifth-highest tally in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

With reporting by AP, dpa, and AFP

A group of European Union states with diplomatic representatives in Belarus, together with the bloc's delegation in Minsk, will recommend several paths for the 27-member bloc to take, including expanding the scope of sanctions against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka for hijacking an election last year and then violently cracking down on protesters demanding that he step down.

In a paper seen by RFE/RL, the group assesses the current political situation in the country and provides suggestions on policy options, including sanctions. The paper, titled "EU Heads Of Mission Report: February 2021 Review Of The EU Restrictive Measures Against Belarus," is set to be discussed in Brussels in the coming weeks. It is not guaranteed that all of the recommendations will be taken into account.

The paper spells out four different paths that Brussels can take when it comes to its eastern neighbor: "Wait and See," "A Pragmatic Equi-Distant," "Decisive Continued Downgrading of Relations," and "A Near Total Freeze of Relations."

The EU has already called the presidential election of 9 August "neither free nor fair" and stated that Lukashenka "lacks any democratic legitimacy."

In the wake of the crackdown of protestors that followed the vote, which saw most of the Belarusian opposition move into exile, the EU imposed visa bans and asset freezes on 88 individuals and seven entities, including Lukashenka and his son in three separate sanction rounds at the end of 2020. This wait--and-see path would, according to the document, also continue and reflect the current "gradual approach to sanctions."

The second option would entail issues such as "silent diplomacy, a high-level mission to Minsk/invitation to a neutral venue, keeping the mediation offer on the table, agreeing to talk to the regime and entering into a kind of dialogue at the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe], entering into high level negotiations with Russia and the U.S. to increase outside pressure, offer an EU advisory mission/ EU special representative for Belarus.”

Among other things, the third path would include a downgrading of relations with more individuals and entities sanctioned, scaled-down diplomatic relations but also "supporting the initiation of criminal and other cases under national laws in EU member states, against perpetrators of torture and inhumane treatment."

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The fourth and harshest option would be a near-total freeze of relations, meaning the severance of diplomatic relations, including the withdrawal of EU member states' ambassadors, a full sanctions regime hitting various industrial sectors, a ban on the sale of Eurobonds, and the possible alignment of the sanctions regime with that imposed on Russia. A moratorium on Belarus's participation in Eastern Partnership structures and a formal recognition of a government in exile would also be on the cards.

The document also notes a number of things that Belarusian authorities have to do in order to resume what is called "a meaningful dialogue with the EU," including the cessation of "all repression and abuse of the human rights of persons engaged in the pro-democracy movement, independent media and representatives of the civil society."

Lukashenka, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has refused to negotiate with the opposition. Thousands of protesters -- including members of the free press -- have been jailed for taking to the streets to demand fresh elections.

The bloc is also demanding that Minsk should release, rehabilitate, and financially compensate political prisoners, ensure free and fair elections under OSCE observation, and "provide safe conditions for the return of those in political and forced exile."

The heads of missions suggest that Brussels should consider an expansion of the scope of sanctions if those EU key demands are not met.

Among the people who should be targeted with sanctions are top officials of the regime, including all members of the Security Council and their immediate relatives, the heads of regional administrations, and so-called “presidential aides” in the regions, as well as "rank-and-file executors of violence among the authorities such as police and special police officers like the KGB and OMON special police."

Asset freezes on companies should include "state-owned enterprises contributing to the financing of the regime such as oil refining, potassium production, and chemical production," financial institutions such as all state banks and private ones like the Minsk Transit Bank, companies in the machinery sector such as for example BelAz and the Minsk Tractor Works and the National Railways.

If the situation deteriorates further, it is suggested that sectoral sanctions could be enacted and include the prohibition of EU-domiciled or affiliated companies such as MasterCard, VISA, and Swift to provide services or supply goods from Belarusian companies dealing with energy and raw materials, as well as all state-owned companies and those belonging to individuals on the EU sanctions list.

The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized 10 associates and supporters of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny as political prisoners.

In a February 8 statement, Memorial said it had recognized as political prisoners the individuals detained on the eve of unsanctioned mass rallies against Navalny's arrest in late-January and charged with publicly calling for the violation of sanitary and epidemiological safety precautions.

The 10 include, Navalny's brother Oleg Navalny; Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation; municipal lawyers Dmitry Baranovsky, Konstantin Yanauskas, and Lyusya Shtein; the head of the Alliance of Doctors NGO Anastasia Vasilyeva; a leading member of the Pussy Riot protest group, Maria Alyokhina; a coordinator of Navalny's team in Moscow, Oleg Stepanov; Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh; and activist Nikolai Lyaskin.

The majority of these people were placed under house arrest. If found guilty of the charges, each person faces up to two years in prison.

"The persecution of protesters on the grounds of violating sanitary and epidemiological restrictions looks especially cynical while thousands of peaceful demonstrators are being detained and transported in tightly filled police vehicles and kept in police stations in conditions that even further expedite the spread of the illness," Memorial said in its statement.

A day earlier, more than 100 Russian actors, directors, writers, musicians, poets, and scholars issued an open letter addressed to the nation, authorities, and political parties, to protest against the violent crackdown on the rallies and calling the persecution of the demonstrators "a real shame for Russia's judicial system."

The letter does not mention Navalny's name, but among other issues, the text mentions his persecution and the mass arrests of his supporters in recent weeks.

"We call on the goodwill of the people, all our fellow citizens, to join the condemnation of violence against political opponents, to raise their voices to defend civil peace, democracy, and a decent life, and [we call on] representatives of the authorities to return to the boundaries of constitutional law and order," the letter says.

Navalny, 44, was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany where he was treated for a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.

More than 10,000 people were rounded up by police during nationwide rallies protesting Navalny's arrest in more than 100 Russian towns and cities on January 23 and January 31.

On February 2, Navalny was found guilty of violating the terms of a suspended sentence connected to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated. The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said the Kremlin critic would have to serve 2 years and 8 months behind bars.

The court's ruling caused new mass protests across the country that were also violently dispersed by police. More than 1,400 people were detained by police in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities on that day.

With reporting by Ekho Moskvy

Germany, Sweden, and Poland are each expelling a Russian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow's expulsion last week of diplomats from the three EU countries for allegedly taking part in protests in support of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny.

"Today the Federal Foreign Office has declared a staff member of the Russian Embassy in Berlin persona non grata," the German Foreign Ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry said Moscow's decision to expel the European diplomats "was not justified in any way," insisting that the German Embassy staffer had been acting within his rights under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to "inform himself about developments on site."

The Swedish and Polish governments made similar announcements.

"We have informed the Russian Ambassador that a person from the Russian Embassy is asked to leave Sweden," Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde wrote on Twitter. "This is a clear response to the unacceptable decision to expel a Swedish diplomat who was only performing his duties."

Poland's Foreign Ministry said on February 8 that it had asked a worker at the Russian Consulate in the western city of Poznan to leave.

"The Foreign Ministry took the decision today in accordance with the principle of reciprocity and in coordination with Germany and Sweden to recognize an employee of the Consulate General of Russia in Poznan as persona non grata," the ministry said on Twitter.

The Russian Foreign Ministry immediately hit back.

"Today's decisions by Poland, Germany, and Sweden are unfounded, unfriendly, and are a continuation of the very series of actions that the West is taking with regard to our country and which we qualify as interference in our internal affairs," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told state channel Rossia 1.

Russia last week announced that diplomats from Sweden, Poland, and Germany personae non gratae for allegedly participating in a protest to support the Kremlin critic on January 23. The Swedish, Polish, and German governments have denied that their diplomats participated in the demonstration.

The February 5 announcement came during a tense visit by Josep Borrell to Moscow, where the EU's top diplomat had an intense day of meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who called the EU an "unreliable partner."

The coordinated retaliatory move by the three EU members came after the Kremlin on February 8 defended its decision to expel the European diplomats.

"The Russian side has shown clearly that it isn't going to tolerate anything like this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on February 8.

For his part, Borrell wrote in his blog on February 7 -- a day after returning from Moscow -- that an "aggressively-staged press conference and the expulsion of three EU diplomats during my visit indicate that the Russian authorities did not want to seize this opportunity to have a more constructive dialogue with the EU."

Peskov declined to comment on Borrell's statement, saying that he does not "presume to judge what could have influenced such an assessment."

On February 2, Navalny was found guilty of violating the terms of a suspended sentence he received in connection with an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated. The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said the Kremlin critic would have to serve 2 years and 8 months behind bars.

Navalny, 44, was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany where he was treated for a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.

More than 1,400 people were detained by police in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities after the court ruling on February 2. More than 10,000 were rounded up by police during nationwide protests in more than 100 Russian towns and cities on January 23 and January 31.

Rattled by some of the biggest anti-government protests in years, Moscow has accused the West of hysteria and double standards over Navalny and has accused the United States and others of meddling in Russia's internal affairs.

In addition to the Navalny case, relations between Moscow and the EU have been sorely strained by Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its support for separatist formations waging a war against Kyiv in parts of eastern Ukraine, the EU’s rejection of a disputed presidential election in Belarus and its criticism of a brutal crackdown by the government of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and other issues.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and TASS

Russia says it is expelling an Albanian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move after Tirana told a Russian diplomat to leave for allegedly violating lockdown rules instituted for the coronavirus pandemic.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on February 8 that the first secretary of the Albanian Embassy in Moscow had been declared "persona non grata" and ordered to leave the country within 72 hours.

The move comes more than two weeks after the Albanian government announced it was expelling the first secretary of the Russian Embassy in Tirana, citing "repeated" violations of pandemic restrictions by the diplomat since April 2020.

The Albanian Foreign Ministry said senior representatives of the Foreign Ministry first addressed the matter with the Russia ambassador in Tirana, but the diplomat continued to break lockdown rules.

In its statement on February 8, Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the Albanian decision a "provocation" and said that its diplomat was expelled "under a completely contrived pretext."

It accused the Albanian authorities of "playing along with anti-Russian forces" to gain "political points" ahead of parliamentary election in April.

In 2018, Albania expelled two Russian diplomats, saying their activities were not compliant with their diplomatic status.

Tirana resumed diplomatic relations with Moscow in 1991, 30 years after the country's then-communist regime severed previously close ties with Russia.

Russia will resume railway service with Belarus after a months-long halt imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Russian Railways said on February 8 that a Belarusian Railways train will set off toward Moscow later in the day and will reach the Russian capital the next morning.

On February 9, the train will leave Moscow late in the evening and return to Minsk the next day, Russian Railways said in a statement.

The train will make stops in the Russian cities of Smolensk and Vyazma.

The statement added that as of February 9, another train with daily service between Moscow and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, will resume stops in Minsk.

According to Russian Railways, additional tarins connecting Russia and Belarus will be announced at a later date.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed decrees last week on the resumption and increase of rail and air connections with Belarus and three other former Soviet republics.

According to the decrees, the number of flights between Moscow and Minsk will be increased from three to five per week, and weekly flights from Rostov-on-Don and St. Peterburg to Minsk will resume.

The decrees also said that as of February 8, the number of flights from Moscow to Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, will be increased as well from one to three per week.

Mishustin also signed a decree resuming two flights from Moscow to Azerbaijan and four flights from the Russian capital to Armenia per week as of February 15.

Based on reporting by TASS, RIA Novosti and Interfax

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Three women have demonstrated outside the Chinese Consulate in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, to demand the release of their relatives in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Farida Qabylbek, Gulnur Qosdauletqyzy, and Nurzat Ermekba displayed their relatives' pictures and posters as they launched their protest on February 8.

Qabylbek said her husband, Rakhyzhan Zeinolla, who is a naturalized Kazakh citizen, spent 13 years in prison in Xinjiang on espionage charges before he was sent to a so-called reeducation camp, where he spent one year and is currently under house arrest.

Qosdauletqyzy and Ermekbai said their relatives in Xinjiang had been taken away by the police and kept incommunicado for years. They said they feared that their relatives are in the reeducation camps.

Consulate security officials met the women and told them that consulate officials, citing pandemic precautions, would not meet with them.

A city administration official, Rita Ermanova, came to the site and told the women that their demonstration was illegal, but the women refused to leave.

Many similar protests have taken place in Kazakhstan in recent years, with demonstrators demanding the Kazakh authorities officially intervene in the situation faced by ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang.

The U.S. State Department has said as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps.

People who have fled the province say that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities known officially as reeducation camps.

SEE ALSO:

China Expanding Detention Camp Network In Xinjiang, Researchers Say

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang.

A picture taken at a police station by noted Russian photographer Dmitry Markov, which turned into an online symbol of the mass rallies in support of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, has been sold for 2 million rubles ($26,800).

Markov wrote on Facebook over the weekend that the picture showing a riot-police officer sitting at a desk with a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin hanging on the wall behind him had been sold at an online auction to a person, whom he named only as Yekaterina.

According to Markov, the money will be given to two groups focusing on the rights of protesters in the country -- OVD-Inform and Apology of Protest.

Markov took the picture when he was detained along with hundreds of protesters on February 2 and taken to the police station in Moscow.

SEE ALSO:

'He Was Almost Crying': The Story Behind Iconic Navalny Protest Photo

On that day, a court in Moscow found Navalny guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated.

The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said the Kremlin critic would have to serve 2 years and 8 months behind bars.

The ruling sparked protests across the country, with more than 1,400 people being detained by police on February 2.

Speaking to RFE/RL earlier last week, Markov said that his picture was "very illustrative."

"To get a full idea [of the picture] it would be great to see people who were sitting in front of that riot-police officer. There were young people, some around 25 years old, and the [police officer] is obviously close to 50. And he is ashamed, he is afraid to show his face, he is wearing a balaclava indoors even though it was very hot there," Markov said, adding that one could feel that the officer was scared.

Navalny was arrested at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was being treated for a poison attack in Siberia in August, for which he blamed the Kremlin.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

The 44-year-old opposition politician's arrest has sparked mass protests across Russia.

Iran and the United States have deepened their standoff over Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers as the leaders of both countries demanded the other side act first.

U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated he will not lift sanctions to get Iran back to the negotiating table, saying Tehran must first adhere to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Asked in a CBS interview on February 7 whether he would first halt sanctions to convince Iran to return to the bargaining table, Biden offered a succinct reply: "No."

The president then nodded affirmatively when asked if Iran would first have to stop enriching uranium beyond the limits permitted under the deal.

Earlier, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States must lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to comply with its commitments under the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the United States must lift all sanctions in practice, then we will do verification and see if the sanctions were lifted correctly, then we will return to our commitments," Khamenei said in comments run by state TV on February 7.

"It is the irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it," he added.

Analysts say the comments mark the first time Khamenei demanded verification of any future sanctions relief, reflecting a sensitivity over the issue after former President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew from the deal and imposed crushing sanctions on Iran.

In response to Trump's withdrawal, Tehran has gradually breached the deal by building up its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, refining uranium to a higher level of purity, and using advanced centrifuges for enrichment.

The dueling comments from the two leaders underscore the difficult diplomatic challenge ahead as Biden seeks to revive a key accord rejected by Trump. In addition to demanding Iran first return to compliance with the accord, the United States is seeking alongside its allies and partners to eventually reach a "longer and stronger" agreement including Iran's missile program and regional policies.

Iranian officials insist the country's missile program and regional policies are off the table and that the United States should first comply with the nuclear deal, which required Iran to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

In an apparent walk-back of previous demands, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on CNN after Khamenei's remarks that receiving compensation from the United States for the cost of sanctions imposed by Washington was not a "precondition" for restoring the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, both sides are up against several deadlines.

Legislation passed by Iran's parliament in December forces the government to harden its nuclear stance if U.S. sanctions are not eased by February 21, including by possibly expelling UN nuclear watchdog inspectors from the country.

In another interview on February 6 with an Iranian newspaper, Zarif urged Washington to act quickly to return to the nuclear deal.

"Time is running out for the Americans, both because of the parliament bill and the election atmosphere that will follow the Iranian New Year," Zarif said in the interview in Hamshahri.

Iran's new year usually begins on March 21 and celebrations last nearly two weeks.

Iran's presidential election is in June.

Moderate President Hassan Rohani isn't running again because of term limits and hard-liners that already control parliament may take control of the presidency, reducing the chances of a compromise with the United States.

"The more America procrastinates, the more it will lose," Zarif said in the interview. "We don’t need to return to the negotiating table. It's America that has to find the ticket to come to the table."

With reporting by AFP, CBS, and Reuters

European Union foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell has said that relations between the European Union and Russia are "at a crossroads" following a visit to Moscow that the diplomat described as "very complicated."

In a blog post on February 7, Borrell said that an "aggressively-staged press conference and the expulsion of three EU diplomats during my visit indicate that the Russian authorities did not want to seize this opportunity to have a more constructive dialogue with the EU."

During a press event with Borrell on February 5, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the EU an "unreliable partner." Shortly afterward, Moscow announced that diplomats from Sweden, Poland, and Germany had been expelled for purportedly participating in a protest to support jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny on January 23.

All three governments denied that their diplomats had participated in the demonstration.

In addition to the Navalny case, relations between Moscow and the EU have been sorely strained by Russia's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its support for separatist formations waging a war against Kyiv in parts of eastern Ukraine, the EU's rejection of a disputed presidential election in Belarus and its criticism of a brutal crackdown by the government of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and other issues.

Borrell called on the EU to "reflect carefully on the direction we want to give to our relations with Russia and proceed in a united manner with determination."

He added that the visit had "confirmed that Europe and Russia are drifting apart."

"It seems that Russia is progressively disconnecting itself from Europe and looking at democratic values as an existential threat," Borrell wrote.

Borrell said that during their "review of our troubled neighborhood," "Russia and the European Union remain more often than not at odds."

The EU's top diplomat added that the bloc's next steps could include further sanctions against Moscow.

"We also have another tool in this respect, thanks to the recently approved EU human rights sanctions regime," he wrote.

Hungary has become the first European Union member to approve the Russian-developed Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for general use.

The government said on February 7 that some 40,000 doses of the vaccine were ready to be distributed.

In all, Hungary has ordered 2 million doses over the next three months.

Prominent medical journal The Lancet reported earlier this month that testing showed Sputnik V to be 91.6 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19.

Hungary is also the first EU country to order a Chinese-developed vaccine, having placed an order for 5 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.

The government said it expected to begin using the Chinese vaccine later this month.

Based on reporting by dpa, The Moscow Times, and TASS

A delegation of the Afghan Taliban has visited Turkmenistan for talks with the Turkmen Foreign Ministry focusing in part on security issues surrounding the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural-gas pipeline project.

Ashgabat announced the visit on February 6, saying the Taliban delegation was headed by Mullah Abdul Gani Baradar.

Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov participated in the talks, according to the head of the Taliban representative office in Qatar, Naim Bardak.

According to a statement by the Turkmen government, the talks focused on establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan. The statement said the Taliban representatives expressed complete support for Turkmen infrastructure projects.

"Without a doubt, the immediate construction of such projects as TAPI...and railroads between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan will help achieve peace and economic development in Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Mohammad Soheil Shahin told journalists in Ashgabat after the talks.

State media in Turkmenistan, however, did not report on the meeting.

The Afghan government has not commented on the Ashgabat talks.

The 1,814-kilometer TAPI pipeline is projected to run from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan to the Indian city of Fazilka, passing through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan and Quetta and Multan in Pakistan.

Its cost is estimated at some $10 billion.

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has cautioned against linking Moscow's treatment of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

In remarks published on February 7 by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Altmaier voiced support for continuing construction of the nearly finished pipeline.

"Business relationships and business projects that have existed for decades are one thing and serious human rights violations and our reactions to them are another," Altmaier said.

He was echoing remarks on February 5 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also said she did not want to see the two issues conflated.

Navalny was sentenced on February 2 to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison after a Moscow court ruled he had violated the terms of his parole, a charge he rejected.

The 44-year-old anti-corruption crusader was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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More than 1,400 people were detained by police in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities after the court ruling on February 2. More than 10,000 were rounded up by police during nationwide protests in more than 100 Russian towns and cities on January 23 and January 31.

Rattled by some of the biggest anti-government protests in years, Moscow has accused the West of hysteria and double standards over Navalny and told it to stay out of its internal affairs.

SEE ALSO:

In Navalny Protests, The Kremlin Finds A Familiar Target To Blame: The U.S. And The West

Meanwhile, the company behind the Nord Stream 2 project said on February 6 that it was continuing construction of the gas pipeline, laying pipes south of the Danish island of Bornholm.

The company said that the work was proceeding in line with permits that have been issued.

The pipeline-laying vessel Fortuna started work in the Danish exclusive economic zone on January 24, and after testing and preparation has begun construction, the company said.

The pipeline is intended to carry 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany, but work was halted in December following the threat of sanctions from the United States.

Washington opposes the effort to bypass Ukraine in delivering gas to Europe, denying Kyiv a lucrative source of revenue. The United States has also said the pipeline will increase dependence on Russia for energy supplies, with President Joe Biden calling Nord Stream 2 a "bad deal for Europe."

About 150 kilometers of pipe transiting Danish and German waters must be laid to complete pipeline controlled by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

On February 5, Merkel said Berlin would continue to support the completion of the pipeline despite Russia's recent crackdown on anti-government protesters and Moscow's expulsion of European diplomats from Russia.

With reporting by dpa and Bild am Sonntag

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the United States must lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to return to the nuclear deal with Western powers, state TV has reported.

"If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the U.S. must lift all sanctions in practice, then we will do verification and see if the sanctions were lifted correctly, then we will return to our commitments," Khamenei said.

Analysts say the televised comments mark Khamenei's first since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who has said he wants to rejoin the accord.

Speaking on CNN after Khamenei's remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that receiving compensation from the United States for the cost of sanctions imposed by Washington was not a "precondition" for restoring the nuclear deal.

Zarif also urged Washington to act fast to return to the 2015 nuclear deal in an interview published on February 6 in an Iranian newspaper.

"Time is running out for the Americans, both because of the parliament bill and the election atmosphere that will follow the Iranian New Year," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in the interview in Hamshahri.

Iran's new year begins on March 21, and elections are in June.

Legislation passed by parliament in December forces the government to harden its nuclear stance if U.S. sanctions are not eased by February 21.

"The more America procrastinates, the more it will lose," Zarif said in the interview. "We don't need to return to the negotiating table. It's America that has to find the ticket to come to the table."

President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2018 and began restoring sanctions against Iran.

In response, Tehran has gradually breached parts of the pact, saying it was no longer bound by it. Last month, it resumed enriching uranium to 20 percent -- a level it achieved before the accord.

SEE ALSO:

Iran Enriched '17 Kilograms' Of 20 Percent Enriched Uranium, Exceeding Goals

Biden's administration is exploring ways to return to the deal. Biden has said that if Tehran returned to strict compliance with the pact, Washington would follow suit, but Tehran has said Washington must ease sanctions first and has ruled out negotiations on wider security issues that would restrict Iran's missile development, a suggestion raised by Washington.

In the latest steps by Iran to develop its missile program, the Iranian military on February 6 opened a plant to produce hybrid solid fuel for missiles and a factory to build shoulder-fired rockets, state television reported.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Great Britain and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the landmark nuclear deal in their first call on February 5.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the foreign ministers discussed how a united approach could address their shared concerns toward Iran, which has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program was strictly for civilian purposes.

Separately, Iran's Foreign Ministry commented on Washington's decision to end its support for the Saudi-led coalition's "offensive operations" in Yemen, saying it could be a helpful step.

"Stopping support...for the Saudi coalition, if not a political maneuver, could be a step toward correcting past mistakes," state media quoted ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying.

But he added that the move alone won't solve Yemen's problems and called for an air, sea, and land blockade to be lifted and an end to military attacks by Saudi Arabia.

Biden said on February 4 the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, "has to end." He also named veteran U.S. diplomat Timothy Lenderking as the U.S. special envoy for Yemen in a bid to step up U.S. diplomacy to try to end the war.

With reporting by Reuters and Hamshahri

Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has designated February 7 the Day of Solidarity with Belarus, calling on international leaders, activists, journalists, and all friends of the country to support protesters who have been demanding the resignation of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka and new elections.

"Since the fraudulent presidential election of August 9, 2020, Belarusians have demanded democracy and freedom, staying persistent and courageous in spite of the regime's lawlessness," Tsikhanouskaya said in announcing the Day of Solidarity on her website.

Tsikhanouskaya suggested people show their solidarity with those who protest daily in Belarus "and thank them for their bravery and strong will."

She recommended holding rallies, posting support on social media, writing letters to political prisoners, and lighting the facades of buildings in red and white -- the colors of the Belarus opposition movement.

She also invited people to join an online solidarity conference on February 6, which included discussions on Belarus and the launch of the Belarusian People's Embassies.

Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, who participated in the conference, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that the ministry would express its concern "about the repression that we still see in Belarus" to mark the Day of Solidarity.

He said, however, that there were currently no proposals for additional EU sanctions, but "Belarus remains high on the agenda, and foreign ministers regularly discuss what steps need to be taken."

Tsikhanouskaya has called on the European Union and the United States to be "braver and stronger" in their actions to help end Lukashenka's rule.

"The international response is still too modest," she said on January 27 during an online event with several EU foreign ministers.

SEE ALSO:

Tsikhanouskaya Calls On West For 'Braver And Stronger' Response To Lukashenka

The United States and the European Union on February 5 said they backed the Day of Solidarity and hailed the demonstrators.

"We continue to be amazed by the exceptional strength, resilience, and courage of the Belarusian people in the face of unyielding repression," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

"They continue to demand freedom and democracy. The world has been inspired by the people of Belarus, especially Belarusian women peacefully demonstrating for the right to have a voice in Belarus's future," Price said.

He added that the United States backed a "peaceful and inclusive dialogue" in Belarus.

The European Union issued a similar statement, saying that "many thousands" had been detained in Belarus and pointing to "hundreds of documented cases of torture."

"The European Union continues to stand firmly with the people of Belarus," said in a statement by EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell and enlargement coordinator Oliver Varhelyi, promising economic support for a democratic Belarus.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in her weekly podcast on February 6, said she had been "deeply impressed" by Belarus's democracy movement.

"The calculation by those in power seemed to be that the world would forget these brave people. We cannot let that happen," said Merkel, adding that the Belarusian government needed to put an end to violence against peaceful demonstrators.

Lukashenka's declaration of victory in the election has sparked continuous protests that have seen tens of thousands take to the streets demanding he leaves.

Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, has denied any wrongdoing and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding new elections.

Security officials have cracked down hard on the demonstrators, arresting thousands and pushing most top opposition figures out of the country. Several protesters have been killed in the violence and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used against some of those detained.

The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the vote and postelection crackdown.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, dpa, and AFP

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has completed his three-day trip to Moscow amid criticism of Russia's response to anti-government protests.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a February 6 press release that Borrell addressed a number of issues with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, including the "deteriorating human rights situation in Russia and the deliberate attempts to silence critical voices, NGOs, and civil society."

Borrell reiterated the European Union's "strong condemnation of the recent sentencing of Aleksei Navalny, which followed his illegal detention and assassination attempt by a chemical nerve agent on Russian soil." Borrell repeated calls by Brussels for the opposition politician's "immediate and unconditional release"

The EU official also "strongly condemned" Russia's February 5 decision to expel three diplomats from EU states for allegedly participating in anti-government rallies held after Navalny was jailed upon his return from months of treatment abroad for his nearly fatal poisoning. The opposition politician and anti-corruption activist has accused President Vladimir Putin of ordering the assassination attempt.

Borrell rejected the allegations that the diplomats from Sweden, Germany, and Poland had conducted activities incompatible with their status, and called on Moscow to reconsider the decision.

Regarding Navalny being sentenced this week to nearly three years in prison related to a previous fraud conviction, Borrell said that the implications of the Moscow court decision would be discussed by EU foreign ministers later this month.

The EEAS statement also said that EU diplomats were in contact with Navalny's lawyers during Borrell's visit.

Borrell also discussed Russia's actions in Ukraine, where Moscow has seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and supported a separatist conflict against Kyiv, and called on Russia to "respect the democratic choice of the people of Belarus and other conflicts in the neighborhood."

Moscow has given its support to Alyaksandr Lukashenka despite the refusal by the EU and other Western countries to recognize him as president. Mass protests have been held weekly since Lukashenka declared himself the winner of the country's August 20 presidential vote, leading to thousands of arrests and documented cases of violence against demonstrators.

Efforts have resumed to complete the last underwater section of the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline.

The international consortium behind the Russia-led project began laying pipes on February 5 in Danish waters.

The pipeline is intended to carry 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany, but work was halted in December 2020 following the threat of sanctions from the United States.

Washington opposes the effort to bypass Ukraine in delivering gas to Europe, denying Kyiv a lucrative source of revenue. The United States has also said the pipeline will increase dependence on Russia for energy supplies, with President Joe Biden calling Nord Stream 2 a "bad deal for Europe."

About 150 kilometers of pipe transiting Danish and German waters must be laid to complete pipeline controlled by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

On February 5, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin would continue to support the completion of the pipeline despite Russia's recent crackdown on anti-government protesters and Moscow's expulsion of European diplomats from Russia.

Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa

The head of Telegram has said that the popular messaging app has blocked several channels that posted the telephone numbers and addresses of people working for and against anti-government protests in Russia.

Writing on his own Telegram channel on February 5, Pavel Durov said that the channels in question contained information not only about participants in recent nationwide demonstrations, but also "judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, as well as journalists and media managers."

Many of the messages called for attacks against those targeted, which Durov said violated Telegram's policies prohibiting the incitement of violence.

Russian media reported that the move came after the country's telecommunications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, demanded that the information be blocked.

Telegram's reputation as a free-speech platform and use of encryption technology preventing surveillance by law enforcement has made it popular among opposition activists and demonstrators around the world.

In Russia, the app has been used by participants in recent anti-government demonstrations following the jailing of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

Last year, Russia lifted a ban on Telegram that was imposed for more than two years after Durov refused to hand over encryption keys that authorities said were needed to fight terrorism. The Communications Ministry admitted that it was "technically impossible" to block the messaging app.

Durov said that use of the app had doubled since the ban, with 30 million* of its 400 million active users coming from Russia, and added that "we have decided to direct our anti-censorship resources into other places where Telegram is still banned by governments -- places like Iran and China."

Telegram's move to block channels broadcasting personal information comes as Russian authorities have taken steps to clamp down on social media used by anti-government demonstrators.

Shortly after rallies were held across the country on January 23 following Navalny's arrest upon his return from medical treatment abroad, Roskomnadzor said it would fine Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, VK, Odnoklassniki, and YouTube for failing to delete calls for people to attend the unsanctioned demonstrations, arguing that they would lead minors to break the law.

Roskomnadzor praised TikTok after it complied with the demand, and on February 6 the Russian Foreign Ministry registered its first TikTok account.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the "developments of the past weeks sped up this process," but that the account was not "a fashion statement but simply information work."

The ministry's first posts were to tout the effectiveness of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19.

With reporting by Interfax

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly characterized the increase in Telegram's active users in Russia.

The authorities in Russia reportedly continued to detain supporters of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and closed the center of the country's second-largest city even though no anti-government rallies were planned.

Snow removal equipment was used to block access to central St. Petersburg on February 6, where large rallies against Navalny's jailing were held the last two weekends. Subway stations in the city center were also closed and police reportedly said that 30 raids were conducted against opposition supporters.

The blockades in St. Petersburg were gradually removed in the late afternoon.

Police action was also reported elsewhere, including in Vladivostok, where more than 100 demonstrators were arrested during anti-government and pro-Navalny rallies on January 31.

The homes of a number of activists, opposition politicians, and journalists were raided on February 6 in relation to an investigation into the blockage of roads ahead of a previous rally in the city, on January 23.

SEE ALSO:

Halt To Russia's Opposition Protests Prompts Criticism From 'Seething' Activists

Video published by police in the Far East city reportedly showed the arrest of blogger Gennady Shulga at his home, with his head being pushed to the floor in front of an animal's food dish. Local media reported that a small rally held in Vladivostok on February 6 was dwarfed by police.

Demonstrations have been held in more than 100 cities nationwide after Navalny, a well-known anti-corruption crusader and Kremlin critic, was arrested upon his return to Russia on January 17 following months of treatment abroad for a poisoning he says was ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny was in court twice this week. On February 2, he was sentenced to nearly three years in jail after a court converted a suspended sentence relating to fraud into jail time.

The second case, in which he is accused of defaming a World War II veteran in comments he made on Twitter, was temporarily postponed and is expected to resume next week. Navalny has accused Russian officials of "fabricating" the slander case relating to the comments he made about several people who appeared in a pro-Kremlin video.

SEE ALSO:

The Week In Russia: Courts, Crackdowns, And A Clouded Future

After more than 10,000 protesters were detained during nationwide anti-government demonstrations on January 23 and 31, a close aide to Navalny held off on announcing any new protests.

"We will properly organize them and definitely hold another big one in spring and summer," Leonid Volkov announced on a YouTube live stream.

Russia will hold key parliamentary elections this fall. Navalny and his team are encouraging citizens to vote for politicians running against candidates from the pro-Putin United Russia party.

With reporting by dpa

The Russian LGBT Network has warned that two young gay men from Chechnya who were seized in Nizhny Novgorod and driven by car back to the North Caucasus region face "mortal danger."

The Russian NGO reported on its Telegram channel on February 6 that Salekh Magamadov, 18, and a 17-year-old companion had arrived at a police station in Gudermes after being detained by Federal Security Service (FSB) officers earlier this week.

The reason for their detentions in Nizhny Novgorod remains unknown, the LGBT Network reported on its website, adding that one of its lawyers was not being granted access to the detainees prior to their interrogation.

RFE/RL is not revealing the identity of the second man because he is a minor.

The LGBT Network helped both men leave Chechnya and settle in Nizhny Novgorod in July. After police arrived at their apartment on February 4, one of the men contacted the NGO asking for help and its emergency-assistance coordinator reported hearing screaming from unknown people in the background, the LGBT Network wrote on its website.

After arriving on the scene, a lawyer for the LGBT Network noticed that a scuffle had taken place in the men's apartment and was able to confirm that the two men had been detained by police and were being taken by car to Gudermes, Chechnya.

The LGBT Network became involved in the men's case after they were both detained in April 2020 in Chechnya, the Russian region ruled by Kremlin-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

According to the LGBT Network the two men had been illegally detained at a notorious prison in the Chechen capital in relation to their involvement as moderators on the opposition Telegram channel Osal Nakh 95.

The two were tortured and humiliated by Chechen special police, according to the rights group, and were later seen in videos published on the Internet in which they can be seen apologizing, apparently under duress, saying "they weren't men."

The predominantly Muslim region of Russia’s North Caucasus was in 2017 accused of carrying out a brutal “purge” targeting sexual minorities, despite Kadyrov's denials and claims that "we don't have any gays" in Chechnya. In 2019, the LGBT Network reported a second wave of persecution against gays.

"They are tired and frightened," LGBT Network spokesperson Time Bestsvet told AFP on January 6. "All this time they were being pressured to refuse a lawyer."

According to Bestsvet, the father of the detained minor was being pressured to refuse to let his son see an attorney. Bestsvet said the rights group was working to gain access to the men, whom he said faced "mortal danger."

"There have been cases when relatives brought back to Chechnya people that we had evacuated and then these people would die or, we can say, were probably murdered," Bestsvet said.

With reporting by AFP

Ukraine is set to receive 12 million doses of coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Novavax, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office announced on February 5.

The news came as vaccine rollouts in the United States and other countries broadened, adding more sites and personnel, and as European countries admitted difficulties in their rollouts.

Ukraine's health minister announced the agreement on the supply of vaccines, which will be produced in India.

The first deliveries are expected in Ukraine this month, Health Minister Maxim Stepanov said.

"Twelve million doses is a good signal from our partners and this will be enough to ensure vaccination within the first months after the start of the deliveries," Zelenskiy was quoted by his office as saying.

Zelenskiy had earlier faced criticism failing to source Western-made inoculations. Last month he called on the European Union to help Ukraine source vaccines after finding itself at the back of Europe's vaccine queue.

Ukraine is also awaiting delivery of 8 million doses promised under the United Nations Covax program and up to 5 million doses of the Chinese CoronaVac jab.

Ukraine has declined to approve Russia's Sputnik V, which has been rolled out in breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists.

The country of 40 million people has recorded more than 1.2 million cases and more than 24,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the European Union has faced difficulties in the rollout of the vaccination program.

Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking in a joint video news conference, reaffirmed they are fully supporting the EU vaccine purchase process.

Macron said the EU hadn’t anticipated “such rapid success” of the vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna that are mostly produced in the United States.

Both vaccines have been approved in the EU, and the AstraZeneca vaccine was authorized last week.

Macron said the EU, which has ordered a supply of about 2.3 billion vaccines, has taken steps to boost production on its soil and accelerate vaccinations.

Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on February 5 that a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus has become dominant in the country.

Slovak authorities sequenced all samples that tested positive across the country on February 3 and the variant originally found in Britain was detected in 74 percent of them.

Health Minister Marek Krajci has called it “an unbelievably high number.” The government plan to partly reopen schools next week has been canceled for the hardest hit counties.

Krajci said the first 20,000 AstraZeneca vaccines expected to arrive next week will be used for elementary school teachers. The country of 5.4 million has registered 5,050 confirmed deaths.

Current vaccines appear to work against the variant detected in Britain.

In the United States, which is still seeing high numbers of cases even if the overall number is trending downward, a drive to vaccinate hundreds of millions of people got a boost on February 5 with the announcement that the Pentagon will deploy about 1,000 active duty military personnel to help state vaccination centers.

The announcement came as one of New York City’s baseball stadiums opened as a COVID-19 vaccination site.

The Yankee Stadium expects to handle 15,000 people during its first week, serving residents of the surrounding neighborhoods in the Bronx, which has been badly hit by COVID-19.

Seven National Football League stadiums already are being used as mass vaccination sites, and the league on February 5 told the federal government it will make dozens more available.

With reporting by AFP and AP

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is maintaining the previous administration’s tough line against NATO member Turkey’s purchase of a major Russian missile-defense system.

"Our position has not changed," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on February 5. "We urge Turkey not to retain the S-400 system."

Turkey bought the S-400 system from Russia in 2019 after failing to agree terms with the United States on the purchase of U.S. Patriots, the air-defense system of choice for most NATO member states.

The purchase strained ties between Washington and Ankara and prompted U.S. warnings that such military cooperation with Moscow was incompatible with NATO. The United States also warned that it would endanger the security of U.S. military technology and personnel as well as that of Turkey.

After Turkey moved ahead with the purchase, the United States suspended its participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program while it continued to negotiate with Ankara.

Turkey further angered the United States in October 2020 by testing the Russian-made system. The Pentagon said at the time that the test risked serious consequences for the U.S.-Turkish relationship, and the State Department said the test was unacceptable and a “clear step in the wrong direction.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said then that the tests would continue without Ankara asking Washington for permission.

In December 2020, the United States announced sanctions, including a ban on all U.S. export licenses to the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) as well as an asset freeze on its president, Ismail Demir, its vice president, and two employees.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Sanctions NATO Ally Turkey Over Purchase Of Russian Missile-Defense System

Russia called the sanctions another example of "illegitimate, unilateral coercive measures" by the United States.

“Turkey is a long-standing and valued NATO ally, but their decision to purchase the S-400 is inconsistent with Turkey's commitments as a U.S. and NATO ally," Kirby said.

Turkey has had multiple opportunities over the last decade to purchase the U.S. Patriot system and instead chose to purchase the S-400, “which provides Russia revenue, access, and influence," he said.

Erdogan had expressed hope in January of reaching a compromise with Biden that would allow Ankara to be reintegrated into the F-35 fighter jet program, but contacts between the new American administration and Turkey have been limited.

While Ankara said earlier this week that Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan had expressed wishes for greater cooperation, Biden has not yet spoken with Erdogan since becoming president.

With reporting by AFP

MOSCOW -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. (RFE/RL) has appealed a string of Russian court decisions to fine several of the broadcaster's Russian-language endeavours and the general director of its operations in Russia for allegedly failing to comply with new restrictions under the country’s controversial “foreign agent” law.

RFE/RL's lawyers on February 5 filed the appeals against the decisions by the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow to approve several administrative protocols submitted by Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor "for noncompliance by the media performing the functions of a foreign agent with the requirements of the law on labeling information disseminated by them."

Among other things, the law on foreign agents requires certain news organizations that receive foreign funding to label content within Russia as being produced by a “foreign agent.”

RFE/RL's lawyers stated in their appeals that Roskomnadzor’s moves prevent journalists from performing professional activities and contradict the Russian Constitution and laws on media by restricting competition.

The appeals also say that censorship is officially banned in Russia, stressing that Roskomnadzor’s orders will "distort the essence of reports [and] change the way they are received by the audience."

According to the lawyers, following Roskomnadzor's requests would create distrust and rejection of the reports and materials of RFE/RL's projects, while many of the requests cannot even be technically executed.

“These fines represent nothing less than a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation, targeting a media company whose editorial independence is protected by law," RFE/RL's Regional Director for Europe and TV Production Kiryl Sukhotski said.

"Our audiences in Russia have long depended on RFE/RL to be trustworthy, credible, and factual; to be an alternative to disinformation and spin. These qualities are, and will always remain, at the core of RFE/RL’s reporting,” Sukhotski said.

Russian regulators have singled out RFE/RL, whose editorial independence is also enshrined in U.S. law, over other foreign news operations in Russia.

An independent nonprofit corporation that receives funding from the U.S. Congress, RFE/RL has not complied with the "foreign agent" law, while the mounting fines could potentially force the company to shutter its presence within Russia.

The February 5 appeal regards the court's January 27 decisions regarding the first four protocols that imposed a total of 1.1 million rubles ($14,500).

At this moment, the combined fines overall total 7.15 million rubles ($94,000), a sum that may increase as court decisions on Roskomnadzor's other protocols targeting RFE/RL are pending.

Roskomnadzor's protocols target four of RFE/RL's Russian-language projects -- its main service for Russia, Radio Liberty; the Current Time TV and digital network; and Siberia.Reality and Idel.Reality, two regional sites delivering local news and information to audiences in Siberia and the Volga-Urals.

RFE/RL also says that the law on foreign agents puts its journalists at risk for criminal prosecution.

U.S. Republican and Democratic lawmakers recently called for new sanctions against Moscow if the Kremlin moves to enforce the stringent restrictions and punishing fines that threaten RFE/RL’s news operations in Russia.

Since early in Vladimir Putin’s presidency, the Kremlin has steadily tightened the screws on independent media. The country is ranked 149th out of 180 places in the World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders.

PODGORICA -- A Montenegrin court has scrapped the guilty verdicts handed down in relation to a plot to overthrow the government in 2016.

The Appeals Court on February 5 annulled the first-instance verdicts issued against 13 defendants in the so-called “plot coup” trial, citing “significant violations of criminal procedure,” and asked the High Court to retry the case.

In May 2019, members of the group were convicted on terrorism charges and creating a criminal organization as part of an October 2016 attempt to overthrow the government and undermine the country's NATO membership bid.

The High Court handed members of the group a total of nearly 70 years in prison -- the lengthiest of 15 and 12 years given to alleged Russian military intelligence officers (GRU) -- concluding a trial that the then-opposition claimed was politically led.

Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, two pro-Russian leaders of the Democratic Front that is now part of the ruling coalition, and eight citizens of Serbia were among the convicts. The two Russians, Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, were sentenced in absentia.

The court found that the group plotted to occupy the country's parliament during 2016 parliamentary elections, assassinate then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and install a pro-Russian leadership.

Russia has denied any involvement.

"We do not feel any satisfaction or joy. We are politically persecuted in a rigged procedure,” Knezevic said after the Appeals Court's ruling.

Speaking at the same press conference, Mandic said the “rigged” court process must be investigated and that all those involved “will have to face the law and justice," pointing his finger at Djukanovic.

Djukanovic, who staunchly supported NATO accession, has been serving as the president of Montenegro since 2018.

His long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) had ruled the Balkan country since the early 1990s until a three-member coalition led by the Democratic Front came to power following general elections held in August 2020.

Russia has declared personae non gratae an unspecified number of employees from the diplomatic missions of Sweden, Poland, and Germany, saying they participated in protests to support opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on February 5 that the Swedish ambassador, the charge d'affaires of Poland, and the German envoy were summoned to the ministry where a protest was lodged with the diplomats in connection with the "recorded participation of diplomatic employees" in the rallies on January 23.

"Diplomats participating in illegal actions were declared 'persona non grata' in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961. They were ordered to leave the territory of the Russian Federation in the near future," the statement said.