Russia supports an early signing of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the United Nations Sunday. Addressing the 60th session of the UN General Assembly, Lavrov said: "We expect the UN General Assembly to contribute to the fight . . .

A session of the joint Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission for military and technological cooperation opened behind closed doors in the Black Sea town of Sochi on Thursday. Defense Ministers Sergei Ivanov and Cao Gangchuan are co-chairing the commission.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed a new head of the navy and presented awards to the crew of the AS-28 mini-sub and members of the rescue team, the Kremlin press service said Sunday.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has made a proposal to India to hold major Russian-Chinese-Indian military exercises similar to the recent maneuvers it had held with China, the Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye military weekly reported Friday.

Russia’s defense ministry realizes the need to raise the intellectual level of army officers, defense minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting to mark the beginning of the new school year at the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

Russia will supply S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Belarus. The weapons will be delivered under contract to Belarus’ anti-aircraft forces, said Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov during his visit to Russia’s southern Astrakhan region . . .

Following the historic Russian-Chinese military exercises conducted of the Shandong Peninsula, Russia is contemplating a similar exercise with China in 2006, a Defense Ministry official said.

Police have found about 80 kilograms (175 pounds) of explosives, a large number of firearms and several ready-to-use explosive devices in an apartment in southeast Moscow, a police official said.

Russian and Chinese amphibious troops taking part in the first phase of the joint Peace Mission 2005 exercise landed at China's Langyatai firing range today, 120 km southwest of Qingdao, the base city for the exercise in the eastern province of Shandong.

Russian and Chinese warships successfully completed the first stage of their live-fire exercises Tuesday. The two countries' navies practiced firing missiles and rockets against sea targets, searching for and destroying an enemy submarine and thwarting an air attack on Russian and Chinese warships.

In 2006, Russia expects to allocate RUR668.321bn - USD23.86bn, or 2.7 percent of GDP for national defense projects, according to data to be presented at the 2006 federal budget cabinet meeting on August 18. In 2005, Russia will spend RUR554.831bn - USD19.81bn, or 2.6 percent of GDP on national defense. . .

Crew of the Kursk submarine are being remembered today throughout Russia. Remembrance services were held in the submarine’s base Vidyaevo, on the square facing the Central Museum of Armed Forces in Moscow, and in Kursk, where a new monument to the mariners was unveiled . . .

Uzbek authorities made the right decision by setting a 6-months deadline for the withdrawal of the U.S. airbase in Karshi-Khanabad, Speaker of the Federation Council, parliament's upper house, Sergei Mironov told a news conference Monday.

In 2006, military compensation is to be increased by at least 15 percent, Sergey Ivanov, Russia's defense minister, has told journalists in Khabarovsk today.

Russia does not intend to make any territorial concessions on the four South Kuril Islands, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said here today. "We do not intend to make any territorial concessions or withdraw from the islands," Ivanov said.

Construction of the first fourth-generation diesel-electric submarine will begin in St. Petersburg for the Russian Navy, Russian Navy Commander Vladimir Kuroyedov said Wednesday.

The Russian government will review proposals for the draft federal target program "Destruction of Chemical Weapon Stockpiles in the Russian Federation," Thursday.

The Russian Defense Ministry has published information on crimes and accidents in the armed forces in June 2005. According to it, the army and navy lost 98 servicemen, the bulk of them in non-combat mishaps and owing to loose discipline. There were also 25 suicides.

A law ratifying an agreement between Russia and Kyrgyzstan on the status of and deployment conditions for a Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan will be discussed by the State Duma on Friday, the last day of the lower chamber of parliament's spring session.

Russia's Foreign Ministry sees the London explosions as terrorist attacks, a spokesman for the ministry said today. According to Alexander Yakovenko, "the Foreign Ministry condemns the terrorist attacks in London, which have claimed many human lives."

Decisive steps have been taken to discover terrorist attacks against Dagestan's Interior Ministry forces, a source in the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

A Swedish military delegation arrived in Kaliningrad, the home of the Russia's Baltic Sea Fleet, on a three-day visit, a spokesman for the fleet said Tuesday.

Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev has ordered the establishment of a group to investigate today's blast in Makhachkala, the capital of Daghestan, a Russian republic bordering on Chechnya.

U.S. Navy ships arrived at port here for joint Navy exercises with the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, based in this city. They will also be participating in celebrations for the city's 145th anniversary and U.S. Independence Day on July 4.

Russia and China will sign an unprecedented agreement on the status of forces involved in a joint military exercise, Cooperation-2005, in late July, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The Russian president said Russia had been in possession of intelligence reports about gunmen crossing Afghanistan's border and infiltrating neighboring Central Asian republics, and it had warned the countries in question about that.

Russia may carry out strikes against terrorists based abroad, a top military commander said Monday.

Russia will conduct fly-over and aerial photography of the United States under the "open-skies" agreement, the U.S. State Department has announced. The State Department said an unarmed Tu-154 plane authorized under the agreement would arrive at Travis Air Force base, California, on Monday.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Russia reserved the right to deliver preventive strikes on border zones of neighboring post-Soviet republics in case of a direct threat of terrorism.

Russia and NATO have agreed to improve the operational compatibility of their troops. At its latest session in Brussels, the Russia-NATO Council has drawn up a plan of action toward that goal, setting forth priority tasks and strategies to accomplish them.