The United States will not seek the death penalty for fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, according to a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder obtained by Agence France Presse Friday.

Holder said in the letter addressed to his Russian counterpart that "the charges he faces do not carry that possibility, and the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional, death penalty-eligible crimes."

Syrian opposition leaders on Thursday pressed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to arm rebel groups and said there could be no peace talks while government forces kill civilians.

Kerry held his first meeting with Syrian National Coalition president Ahmad Jarba at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York.

Russia has received a letter from the United States spelling out its position over intelligence leaker Edward Snowden whose month-long stay in a Moscow airport has led to new tensions in diplomatic ties, the justice ministry said Thursday.

"On July 24, 2013, the Russian justice ministry received a letter from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder which explains certain aspects of the U.S. position on the issue of ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden's status," the ministry said in a written statement sent to Agence France Presse.

President Vladimir Putin praised close ties between the Kremlin and the powerful Orthodox Church as he hosted top Orthodox clergy from across the world Thursday to mark the 1025th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in Russia.

Convening the heads and senior members of 15 Orthodox Churches for an unprecedented meeting at the Kremlin, Putin praised the moral authority of the Church as he seeks to strengthen his power following huge protests against his 13-year rule.

President Vladimir Putin is to visit Iran in August to try to restart talks on Tehran's controversial nuclear drive, a Russian newspaper reported Wednesday.

Putin's visit is planned for mid-August, shortly after Iran's moderate new president Hassan Rowhani takes office on August 3, Kommersant reported, citing sources in the Kremlin and the Iranian foreign ministry.

President Vladimir Putin hailed the Russian Orthodox Church as a "natural partner" of the Kremlin in a two-hour film aired on national television, extolling the church's resurgence after its repression under Soviet rule.

"In the most critical moments of our history, our people looked upon their roots, the moral foundations, the religious values," Putin said in the nearly two-hour film called "The Second Baptism of Russia."

Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said on Monday that all arms agreements with Russia, including Moscow's controversial contract to deliver S-300 missile systems to Damascus, were still in place.

"All agreements between Russia and Syria in the area of arms deliveries are in place," visiting Syrian deputy prime minister said.

Russia and Syria are discussing the possibility of Moscow extending a loan to Damascus to help Syria's civil war battered economy, a top Syrian official said Monday.

Visiting Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said that the issue was discussed at talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Damascus hoped for an agreement by the end of the year.

Russian patient Valentina Micheeva (left) talks to her doctor Irina Ivanova four days after her hip operation at the Coxa hospital in Tampere, Finland. Coxa HealthCareFinland, together with other …more

Sitting on a hospital bed with a slight smile on her face, Valentina Micheeva looks a decade younger than her 80 years as she explains how four days earlier she had her hip replaced -- not in her native Russia but at a clinic in Finland.

Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny was on Sunday preparing his campaign to challenge the pro-Kremlin elite in Moscow mayoral elections after returning home to a hero's welcome following his release from prison.

Navalny was on Thursday convicted in the northeastern city of Kirov in a fraud case that is widely seen as revenge for his daring to challenge President Vladimir Putin, and sentenced to five years in a penal colony.