Moscow - Russia has criticized the United States, Germany and other Western nations that were boycotting a United Nations conference on racism taking place in Geneva.

Apparently, not all governments were ready to face the growing challenges of racism, xenophobia and intolerance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko said in an in an interview published in the government newspaper Gazeta Rossiyskaya on Monday.

Moscow  - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev criticized a planned NATO military exercise in Georgia next month as "muscle- flexing" on Friday, according to Interfax news agency, as tensions from last summer's conflict hotted up again.

The NATO operation is expected to see 1,300 soldiers from 19 nations carry out a two-day exercise in the Black Sea republic.

Geneva - A new round of talks between the eight parties involved in the negotiations on last summer's war in Georgia will take place next month, a joint announcment said Thursday

The last round of talks ended without any announcement of further meetings, in contrast to the first three rounds. The talks have been taking place at United Nations offices in Geneva since October 2008.

Little substantive progress has been made on solving the core issues of the conflict and negotiations have mostly focused on day to day security and humanitarian issues.

Moscow - Spartak Moscow have sacked their Danish coach Michael Laudrup after just seven months due to poor results, the Russian football club announced on Thursday.

Laudrup, 44, who took the Spartak job in September 2008, had to leave the day after Spartak lost a cup match 3-0 against Dynamo Moscow, with manager Valeri Karpin now acting as caretaker.

Spartak finished a modest eighth last season and also had a poor start into the domestic league with one win from four games for 10th place.

Moscow  - Russia has branded a planned two-day NATO military exercise in Georgia as a provocation, and called for it to be postponed, according to the Interfax news agency.

Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said the planned manoeuvres in May would cause serious concern in Moscow.

Eight months on from last August's conflict between Russia and Georgia, relations between Moscow and NATO are still strained.

Moscow - Russia has repealed its anti-terror operation in the war-torn southern region of Chechnya after ten years of conflict, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said it would end a difficult chapter for the republic, Interfax reported.

The ending of the imposition of a state of quasi-martial law will enable around 20,000 Russian troops to be withdrawn, according to media reports in Moscow.