Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said Friday that its dispute with Ukraine over payments could cause disruptions in deliveries to Western Europe, a news agency reported.

Russia faces a budget deficit in 2009 for the first time in a decade as falling prices for oil, the country's main export commodity, squeeze government revenues, a Kremlin official said Wednesday.

The Azeri Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld a move by the Caspian Sea country's ruling party for a referendum to scrap legal limits on presidential terms.

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.

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

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.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will hold on Thursday a nationally broadcasted question-and-answer session, a move which could be interpreted as a sign he plans to return to the presidential sea

Works by William Turner, one of Britain's most prized artists, went on display Monday at Moscow's Pushkin Museum, the first time the artists' works have been exhibited in Russia in 33 years.