Russia urged the United States on Friday not to establish “long-term” military bases in Afghanistan, suggesting even discussing such deployments could undermine peacemaking efforts and anger neighbors. Read the full story

An aide to the Russian judge who convicted Mikhail Khodorkovsky at his second trial last year has said he did not write his own verdict. Judge Viktor Danilkin resented having to take orders from above during the trial of the former tycoon, Natalya Vasilyeva told Russian media. Read the full story

Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant on Saturday, a major milestone as Teheran forges ahead with its atomic program despite UN sanctions. Read the full story

As the US and its European allies are trying to increase unilateral sanctions against Iran, other major states show bold resistance to the punitive measures. Read the full story

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of turning against Teheran and joining US efforts to spread lies about its nuclear program on Friday, in the latest sign that Iran is drifting apart from a one-time key backer. Read the full story

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Iran is “moving closer” to having the potential to create nuclear weapons. It is one of the first times Moscow has publicly recognised that Iran might be moving towards a nuclear weapon. Read the full story

Russia has pledged to “actively support” the Tehran Nuclear Declaration on condition that the landmark fuel swap proposal is fully implemented. Read the full story

Russia has been accused of blocking support for its many victims of sex trafficking by closing foreign help-centres. This is despite calls for the country to ratify an EU convention on the problem. Read the full story

Iran’s president on Wednesday urged US President Barack Obama to accept the Brazilian-brokered nuclear fuel exchange deal, warning that Obama will miss a historic opportunity for improved cooperation from Teheran if the offer is rejected. Read the full story

Russia will lose its credibility if it fails to fulfill a contract to deliver the S-300 defense missiles to Iran, Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow says. Read the full story

China welcomes a nuclear fuel declaration Iran issued after talks with Brazil and Turkey, signaling that it may oppose a US-led drive to impose sanctions on Tehran. Read the full story

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych has told the BBC he will not let Russia’s state gas monopoly Gazprom take control of his country’s gas pipeline network. Read the full story

The Foreign Ministry issued an uncharacteristically sharp response on Wednesday to a Russian and Turkish call to include Hamas in the diplomatic process, drawing parallels between Hamas and Chechen terrorists and saying it was wrong to distinguish between “good” and “bad” terrorists. Read the full story

The White House has reportedly called on Congress to provide waivers in the Iran sanction bill that would allow Chinese and Russian companies to do business with Iran. Read the full story

Kyrgyzstan’s self-proclaimed new leadership said on Thursday that Russia had helped to oust President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and that they aimed to close a U.S. airbase that has irritated Moscow. Read the full story

The trial of two Russian men accused of chopping up a 16-year-old girl and eating her with potatoes has been postponed after a juror fell ill looking at prosecution images. Read the full story

Ukraine’s newly-inaugurated President Viktor Yanukovych has reportedly revoked a 2006 executive order for eventual NATO membership, a sore point in relations with neighboring Russia. Read the full story

Two deadly explosions have hit the metro system in Russia’s capital Moscow, killing at least 41 people, emergency officials say. Read the full story