Moscow, June 8 : Afghanistan, the world's No. 1 producer of opium, will have to decide on its own how to combat drug trafficking after the US military pulls out next year, a top US official has said.

"There are number of options on the table, but the decisions will be made by the Afghan people and the government of Afghanistan as to what the best approach is," Michele Leonhart, head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said in Moscow.

Leonhart's Russian counterpart agreed but said further international involvement would also be needed.

Moscow, June 5 : Russia’s national football team coach Fabio Capello, who earns about 5 million euros per year, has complained about Moscow's exorbitant prices.

Since moving to the Russian capital nearly a year ago, things have been going just swimmingly for the 66-year-old Italian, who lives with his family in a lovely apartment near the Kremlin and probably is one of the highest paid coaches around.

Except for one small thing.

Moscow, June 4 : President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he would sign a law banning adoption of Russian children by foreign same-sex couples if parliament passed such a legislation.

"So far, I have no such bill, I have not seen this. But if such legislation is adopted by the country’s parliament, I will sign it,” Putin said at the Russia-EU summit which opened Tuesday in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

Alexei Levchenko, an aide to Olga Golodets, a Russian deputy premier overseeing social issues, said last week an amendment restricting foreign same-sex couples from adopting Russian children will be introduced in Russia.

Moscow, June 4  : Two-time Grand Slam finalist Elena Dementieva sees coaching youngsters as a likely career path.

The 31-year-old Russian, who hung up her racket in 2010, revealed that coaching the less impressionable tour pros didn't appeal as much as cultivating them.

"To take a grown-up, a fully-blown player, has no interest for me," Dementieva said on the website of the Moscow Legends event where she's competing this week.

Moscow, June 3 : A Russian launch vehicle carrying an SES-6 telecommunications satellite Monday lifted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur space centre.

“The launch took place at the scheduled time - 01.18 p. m. Moscow time (09.18 GMT),” a Khrunichev space company spokesperson said Monday.

“The separation of the SES-6 satellite from the Briz-M booster is expected in 15.5 hours, at 04.49 Moscow time (00.49 GMT) Tuesday,” he said.

Built by Astrium for global satellite operator SES World Skies on Eurostar 3000 platform, the SES-6 is equipped with 43 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders and has a service life of 15 years.

Moscow, May 28 : Russia and China will conduct joint anti-terrorism exercises in Russia's Urals region in the first two weeks of August, a spokesman for the Central Military District said.

"An international anti-terrorism exercise with the units of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at the Chebarkul military training area in the Chelyabinsk region is scheduled for August 1-15," Col. Yaroslav Roshchupkin told RIA Novosti Monday.

The official said the drills will involve 600 personnel from each country.

Moscow, May 28 : Russia is not willing to negotiate further bilateral nuclear cuts with the US until other nuclear powers join the process, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said.

"We cannot endlessly negotiate with the US the reduction and limitation of nuclear arms while some other countries are strengthening their nuclear and missile capabilities," Ryabkov told the Voice of Russia radio Monday.

"Making nuclear disarmament a multilateral process is becoming a priority," he said.

Moscow, May 24 : President Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will meet at the G8 summit in June and during the US president's visit to Russia in September, a Kremlin aide said Friday.

"The first meeting will be in Lough Erne (Northern Ireland) on the sidelines of the G8 Summit and then (during) Obama's visit [to Russia] in September, early September," Putin aide Yury Ushakov said.

Obama's visit will take place before the G20 summit that will be held either in Moscow or St. Petersburg, he added.

Moscow, May 19 : Russia's children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has said Moscow may change its adoption agreement with France in response to the country's new gay marriage law.

Earlier Saturday French President Francois Hollande signed into law a controversial bill allowing same-sex marriage.  The bill has sparked mass protests throughout the nation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said late last month Russia could change its adoption agreements with the countries which allowed gay marriage that goes against "traditional Russian values".

The Russian law defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Moscow, May 15 : Russian tennis star Maria Kirilenko feels she is reaching her peak as a tennis player and will soon achieve some big victories.

Kirilenko is at a career-high 12th in the world rankings and in February ended a four-and-a-half year streak without a WTA singles title when she won the Pattaya Open.

“I think every athlete has their time, when they open up and start to show results. My time has come just now,” she told R-Sport Tuesday.

“I feel I’ve changed as a player, that I’ve started to think differently on the court, that how I perceive things has become different.”

Moscow, May 10 : An ammonia leak was detected in the cooling system in the US section of the International Space Station, a Russian space agency official said Friday.

"Yes, there was indeed an ammonia leak. It took place in the American section of the station, and it is not critical," said Alexei Krasnov of Roscosmos.

"Unfortunately, it is not the first time that something like this has happened. The Russian section of the station and all other parts of it are working normally," he said.

Moscow, May 1 : Tennis star Maria Sharapova has spoken of her delight that her former hometown of Sochi will host next year's Winter Olympics, an event she hopes will put the Black Sea resort on the map worldwide.

Sharapova spent several years living in Sochi before migrating to Florida at the age of seven to pursue her dream of a tennis career.

"I'm very happy that we'll have the Olympics," she said on Russia's Dozhd TV channel Tuesday.

Moscow, April 29 : In a first visit by a Japanese premier to Russia in a decade, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be undertaking an official visit from April 28-30 on an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin earlier reported that Russian-Japanese top-level talks would be held Monday.

The two sides plan to discuss trade, economic, investment, energy, humanitarian, scientific and technological cooperation, and sign a number of bilateral documents.

The will also and discuss international issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Moscow, April 23 : Russian city Kazan is to host the 2014 European Badminton Championships.

An agreement was signed Monday by the head of the sport's federation in Russia and Badminton Europe.

Kazan city had been lobbying to stage the event as part of the legacy program for this year's Summer University Games.

Success finally came Monday when Andrei Antropov and Danish great Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, who was re-elected to the post of Badminton Europe chief, inked a deal.

"We've been entrusted with the most prestigious European competition," Antropov said in comments to the federation's website.

Moscow, April 22 : A Soyuz-U rocket carrying a Progress M-19M cargo spacecraft was brought to the launch site of the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan Monday and installed on the launch pad, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said.

The launch of the Soyuz-U carrier rocket and Progress M-19M space freighter is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Progress space freighter will deliver over 2.5 tonnes of cargo to the International Space Station, including payloads for the crew's work, fuel for the space station, food supplies, water and oxygen for cosmonauts and astronauts.

Moscow, April 20 : Russia's Aliya Mustafina won women's all-around gold at the 5th European championships here.

Prior to the triumph, her fellow teammate David Belyavskiy topped the men's all-around competition. This is the second time Mustafina has won a European championship, reports Xinhua.

"I'm pleased, just pleased," Mustafina told reporters. "I'm satisfied because winning the European championships is not so easy."

Moscow, April 19 :The world's biggest online retailer Amazon is opening a representative office in Russia, Forbes magazine said Friday.

Amazon's move comes just two days after the e-commerce giant announced its strategy to extend its app distribution business, Android-based Appstore, to nearly 200 countries.

Russia is currently Europe's largest internet market with an online audience of 61.3 million, according to a recent study by comScore.

Amazon's Russia office will be headed by Arkady Vitruk, former general director of Azbuka-Atticus publisher owned by media tycoon Alexander Mamut, Forbes said.

Moscow, April 16 : A Russian billionaire has bought a piece of romantic history for his family. He purchased the island where Aristotle Onassis wedded Jacqueline Kennedy, the former American first lady, in 1968.

Dmitry Rybolovlev paid $100 million for the island of Skorpios in the Ionian Sea, the Greek daily Kathimerini said.

He also obtained the small nearby islet Tsokari, the newspaper said.

The islands were put up for sale by Onassis's 28-year-old granddaughter Athena Onassis Roussel.

Moscow, April 16: Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov has accused the US administration of demonstrating "conflicting behaviour", but said Moscow was ready to develop and deepen its ties with the US.

The official's comments were made during a visit by US national security advisor Tom Donilon to Moscow.

Moscow, April 15 : Rising Russian women's tennis star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Monday announced that five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis will be coaching her.

Pavlyuchenkova rose to 20th in the world on the back of her third title in Monterrey last week, and has enlisted the retired Swiss star's help for this weekend's Fed Cup match and beyond.

"Now I'm starting my collaboration with Martina Hingis and we are going to try all the clay court series," the 21-year-old said.