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The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Morning re-cap of main news, May 18

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* Russian President Vladimir Putin said following an EU-Russia summit:

- Russia and the European Union are stepping up negotiations on transition to a visa-free regime

- Russia and the European Union agreed to exchange advance electronic information to speed up cross-border goods transit

- Russia is not dramatizing the delay in talks on a new cooperation agreement with the European Union and the 27-nation bloc should first resolve its internal problems

- Discrimination against Russian minorities in Latvia and Estonia is unacceptable and unworthy of Europe

- Russia demands punishment for those guilty of failing to intervene to save the life of a Russian who died in Tallinn during recent protests over the removal of a Soviet monument

- Russia is ready to continue talks on its embargo on Polish meat imports

- He did not object to opposition marches if they take place within the law

- During the summit the sides agreed on nearly all issues, except sensitive ones that require additional study

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union wanted to launch negotiations on a new partnership agreement with Russia

* The president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said:

- The European Union fully supports Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization

- Russia's embargo on Polish meat imports is unjustified

* An opposition march in Samara, which hosted a Russia-EU summit, ended without any serious incidents

* Gazprom said it had signed a deal to purchase a 50% stake in Belarusian pipeline operator Beltransgaz for $2.5 billion

* The head of Russia's nuclear export monopoly will visit Tehran later in May to discuss the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, an informed source said

* The Moscow Arbitration Court quashed a decision to order Yuganskneftegaz to pay 13 billion rubles (about $504 million) to a Luxembourg-based company linked to the former management of bankrupt oil company Yukos

* French President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled the lineup of his slim, but broad-based Cabinet, giving key posts to a centrist and a left-winger, as well as to representatives of his own conservative camp

* At least three Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a van carrying Hamas activists in the Gaza City, the PNA Health Ministry said

* Jordan proposed a plan for a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, which calls for ending the occupation of Palestinian lands and their transfer under Amman's control, the Israeli daily Maariv reported

* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said that early parliamentary elections would certainly take place in the country, but no later than September

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will arrive in Belarus Monday on an official two-day visit to talk energy and trade cooperation with the ex-Soviet state

* North Korea restored diplomatic relations with Nicaragua, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported

* The former North Korean ambassador to Moscow, Pak Ui Chun, was appointed the country's new foreign minister, the Central Telegraph Agency of Korea reported

* The World Bank said it had allocated $17 million for Azerbaijan to create the largest national park in the south Caucasus

* The $22.5 billion suit by Russia's Federal Custom Service against the Bank of New York, a global leader in securities servicing, has nothing to do with the case of former Yukos oil company head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a lawyer said

* A court in southern Russia sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for the murder of a Kislovodsk Imam, who publicly condemned extremism

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