President Vladimir Putin warned the West that Russia would strike new targets if the United States started supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Moscow's conflict with Ukraine and its international repercussions with his security council on Friday, the Kremlin said on its website.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation (IJF) due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the sport's governing body announced on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine after recognising them as independent on Monday, accelerating a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.

Russia on Friday said French President Emmanuel Macron was made to sit at an enormously long table for his talks with Vladimir Putin because he refused to take a Kremlin-performed Covid test.

US President Joe Biden will use a high-stakes video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin later on Tuesday to tell him that Russia will be hit with the toughest economic sanctions yet if it invades Ukraine, US officials said.

The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin praised the relations between his country and Qatar at all economic and political levels, as well as the mutual cooperation in the humanitarian field, saying that they are a reflection of the personal relations

The United States on Friday announced punitive measures against Belarus targeting the regime of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, who met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid a global outcry over the forced diversion of a European plane.

Russia on Friday threw its weight behind Belarus's increasingly isolated regime, slamming a European overflight ban as President Vladimir Putin prepared to host strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed that Russia will "firmly" defend national interests and denounced the return of "Russophobia", as the country marked the 76th anniversary of victory in World War II.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny lost his appeal on Saturday against what he said was a politically motivated decision to jail him for nearly three years, but said his faith in God and belief in the rightness of his cause was sustaining him.

Russian police detained dozens of protesters on Saturday as supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took to the streets following his call to protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule.