Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Crimea on Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine, condemned by the West but celebrated by most Russians.

Lebanon and Moscow pursue the preparations for President Michel Aoun’s visit to Moscow on March 25 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to deploy new missiles against Western capitals as he delivered a state of the nation address Wednesday aimed at boosting falling approval ratings. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold Syria talks in Moscow on Wednesday, with Turkey saying they will focus on Ankara's so-called "security zone" in northern Syria.

The leaders of Russia and Japan hold talks in Moscow Tuesday over the disputed island chain that has long prevented a peace treaty to formally end World War II. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for stability in the Balkans during a visit to Serbia, a key Moscow ally in the volatile region.

Russia on Wednesday dismissed as ridiculous reports questioning whether U.S. President Donald Trump has acted as an agent for Russia as controversy mounted over his alleged ties to the Kremlin.

Moscow will early next year host the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey to discuss the Syrian conflict, Russia's deputy foreign minister said Friday, after the United States announced it was withdrawing troops from the country.

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia had no choice but to cut its dependency on dollars to conduct trade, after becoming the target of increasingly severe U.S. sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that "tragic accidental circumstances" led to the downing by Syria of a Russian warplane with 15 people on board.

"It rather looks like a chain of tragic accidental circumstances," Putin told reporters, rejecting any comparisons with the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey in 2015.