Sergei Naryshkin

MOSCOW - The realisation of the South Stream gas pipeline project in Serbia and Bulgaria is developing according to the plans, Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergei Naryshkin told the Russia-24 news channel.

BELGRADE - The dramatic situation in Ukraine underlines the deep crisis affecting entire Europe, and MPs in European countries must approach this issue in a responsible manner to prevent the catastrophe of the 1914 Great War from repeating, participants of a Russian-Serbian scientific conference have said.

“Serbia remains a loyal friend of Russia,” Ivica Dacic, Serbia's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of a ministerial session of the Council of Europe held in Vienna on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Russia understands correctly Serbia's position on the crisis in Ukraine, said Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in talks with Russia's State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin on Tuesday, voicing concern about the escalation of the crisis in that country.

BELGRADE - Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin on Tuesday laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame memorial in Belgrade, dedicated to the victims of the 1999 NATO aggression.

Also paying tributes in New Belgrade's Friendship Park were members of a Russian Duma delegation that is on a two-day visit to Serbia.

State Duma speaker to visit Serbia next week

BELGRADE -- Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergei Naryshkin will arrive in Serbia for a two-day visit on Monday, May 5.

He will meet with Serbian officials and attend scientific events related to the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.

Serbia and Russia plan conference on WW1 anniversary

BELGRADE -- Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Chepurin says Serbia and Russia should hold a joint conference, dedicated to the centenary of the beginning of World War I.

The event will be held in Belgrade on May 5-6.

Both Houses of the Russian Parliament will approve a move by Crimea to join the Russian Federation.

This is the first official sign that Moscow backs the actions of the new Crimean authorities, which announced on Thursday the peninsula was seceding from Ukraine and would hold a referendum on March 16 to confirm the decision.