Russia is "hedging its risks" in the event of a disconnection from international payment systems, including Visa and Mastercard, said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

According to him, such a scenario "cannot be ruled out" given the "unfriendly and sometimes even hostile behavior" of Western countries.

"Restrictions on Russia are used by a number of countries that as such an illegal from the international law point of view deterrent for Russia," Peskov said.

He added that the …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Turkey, as well as other countries, against selling weapons to Ukraine.

Lavrov said that some countries, in particular Turkey, "feed the militaristic sentiments" of Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Minister recommended that countries that cooperate with Ukraine "analyze the situation" and called Kyiv's statements "utterly belligerent."

At the same time, Lavrov did not specify what "belligerent" statements of Ukraine he specifically had in mind. In …

Moscow views the U.S. sending its warships to the Black Sea amid the escalation in the Donbas as a "provocation" and warns that they should "stay away" from Russian shores, said the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov.

According to him, Russia will continue to "protect the Russian-speaking population" in the Donbas, despite U.S. warnings that the resumption of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine will entail a "payback."

"Any threat only strengthens our conviction that we are on …