Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny filed a lawsuit to the Russian petrochemical giant Sibur against Russian President Vladimir Putin after a company in which the Russian leader's son-in-law is a shareholder received $1.75 billion in state support.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has spoken in favor of Kurdish participation in the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, which Turkey opposes.

RT informs that Moscow provided the Netherlands with radar and other data on the MH17 crash but it has all been ignored, a Russian aviation official said, responding to the relatives of Dutch victims who recently wrote to President Vladimir Putin.

On Friday, Ban-Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, told the Financial Times newspaper that devastating Russian air raids in Syria last week made it harder for UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to mediate talks between Damascus and opposition that were underway in Geneva.

Putting blame for the breakdown of the intra-Syrian talks on Russia is a manifestation of bad taste, Russian Permanent Representative to United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on February 5, TASS reports.

A United Nations panel has found that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s refuge inside Ecuador’s embassy in London amounts to arbitrary detention, Swedish authorities said on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the initiative of the US side on February 4. Mr Lavrov and Mr Kerry discussed the current status of the Syrian peace settlement in great detail,Information and Press Department reports.

Turkey has banned Russian observation flight over its territory that was to be held within the framework of the Open Skies Treaty. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that Turkey has violated an international treaty by barring a planned Russian surveillance flight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with former US State Secretary Henry Kissinger on February 3. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitrii Peskov they have long-lasting relations and always keep in touch.

Senior Director at the McCain Institute and former president of Freedom House David Kramer has called for more aggressive measures aimed at negating the influence of Russian media outlets like RT and Sputnik.

A representative of the U.S. Treasury Department, Adam Szubin, has told BBC Panorama that Russian President Vladimir Putin is considered to be corrupt. Adam Szubin, who oversees US Treasury sanctions, has also told that the US government has known this for "many, many years".

The European Union and US are expected to formally lift sanctions against Iran this weekend