Moscow - Russian and US officials held talks Monday on missile defence, arms control and other issues amidst currently unraveling security ties between the two Cold War superpowers.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Rood led the closed-door meeting.

Russia's Foreign Ministry gave no details on the talks, which are to address a replacement for the 1991 START-1 nuclear arms pact set to expire next year.

Moscow - Three Russian warships will visit Cuba on Friday, a navy spokesman said Monday, as Moscow boosts relations with the Cold War ally and long-time foe of the United States.

"This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the Soviet days," Navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

The Admiral Chabanenko missile destroyer and two support ships will put in for five days on the Communist island just 145 kilometres off the US coast until December 23.

Moscow  - Russia set out its development goals until 2012 this year, but the four-year budget plan hardly matched reality - something which even the Finance Ministry had to admit.

Economists have halved the country's growth forecast as the real cost of the credit freeze and a dive in the price of Russia's main export commodities set in, but Moscow appears to be rolling ahead with an expansive foreign policy and ambitious domestic infrastructure and social spending.

While governments all over the world scrambled to legislate bail- outs for flagship sectors in distress, Moscow's initial reaction was to cast the country as immune to the crisis.

Moscow - Russian opposition politicians and Kremlin critics Garry Kasparov and Boris Nemtsov founded a new political party named Solidarity in Moscow Saturday.

Representatives of various social groups would work together in the new democratic movement, Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio reported.

The traditionally splintered Russian opposition has been trying to unite against what it sees as an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin.

The party, which plans to present its manifesto in the spring, does not have any official status.

More than 300 opposition politicians from 45 regions took part in the meeting to form the party, Russian media reported.

Moscow - At least 12 people have died in an explosion at an ore mine in northern Russia, Interfax news agency reported Friday, citing the Russian Civil Defence.

The Russian government has asked its citizens to reconsider their trips to the tourism hot spot Goa.

Nearly 45,000 Russian tourists visit Goa each season.

The Russian foreign ministry has specifically advised its citizens wishing to travel to Goa to “reconsider” their decision.

“We have not told them not to come to Goa, we have asked our citizens to reconsider their decision of coming to Goa in view of the security situation,” advocate Vikram Varma told to a news agency on behalf of the Russian consulate.