The Norwegian government will block the sale of the manufacturer of diesel and gas engines Bergen Engines AS to the Russian industrial holding, the TMH Group (Transmashholding). This step is taken on the basis of national security considerations, announced on Tuesday, March 23, the Minister of Justice and Public Security of Norway, Monica Meland, speaking at a hearing in Storting, the unicameral parliament of the country.

"The sale would strengthen Russia's military capabilities in a way that …

French police have issued an arrest warrant for a man accused of mass theft and subsequent resale of bicycles. The case was brought in February after an electric bicycle belonging to the member of the French ruling party "Forward, Republic!", the municipal councillor of Strasbourg Alain Fontanel, disappeared. Fontanel's bike was parked outside the French office of the Council of Europe.

A couple of days later Fontanel found it listed for sale on a classifieds website.

Fontanel contacted the …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia has no relations with the European Union. According to him, the EU has destroyed all mechanisms and infrastructure with its unilateral steps, reports the Russian news agency Interfax.

"We have a good neighbor China, and the European Union is also our neighbor We have always been interested in promoting our relations across all directions. Europe has severed these relations, simply destroying all the mechanisms that were created for many years. …

Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is linked to the Russian private military company the Wagner Group, said that the U.S. authorities are planning to abduct him.

"Evgeny Prigozhin appealed to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation with a statement about his attempted abduction by U.S. citizens who are members of an organized criminal group," reads the statement of the Concord group controlled by Prigozhin.

According to the businessman, the fact that Washington put him …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has proposed to stop using the dollar and international payment systems in response to U.S. sanctions, reported the press service of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lavrov believes that the U.S. has set itself the task of "limiting the possibilities of technological development" of Russia and China. That is why Moscow should strengthen its economic independence.

"That's why we need to reduce sanctions risks by strengthening our technological …

The Kremlin does not rule out the possibility that Russia may be disconnected from the international system of interbank payments SWIFT, said the press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, TASS reports.

According to him, Russia is forced to consider “all possible threats” due to the situation in the world.

"You can see that the sanctions aspirations of our opponents, especially the United States of America, continue to grow," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Peskov added that the …

The United States did not support Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to hold an urgent conversation with President Joe Biden to discuss the bilateral problems and strategic stability, said the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Earlier, Putin instructed the Russian Foreign Ministry to reach out to the White House to organize an open discussion with Biden on March 18 or March 22.

"Another opportunity to find a way out of the deadlock created by Washington in Russian- …

Russia and the UK continue to cooperate on economic and cultural issues, but political relations between the countries are "virtually dead", said Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin in an interview with the British radio station LBC London, TASS reports.

According to Kelin, the UK has chosen a "hostile course" towards Russia, which "does not find understanding" on the Russian side.

London's discontent is largely due to violation of human rights in Russia.

Kelin also added that the …