Russian president Vladimir Putin said today stronger economic relations between Russia and Japan would help improve ties between the countries, strained by a 60-year territorial dispute.

The Russian Cabinet today allocated the equivalent of $6.8bn (€5bn) to buy new weapons next year, and the defence minister reaffirmed the military’s readiness to strike terrorists outside Russia’s borders.

The Russian Cabinet approved the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming today, clearing the way for parliament to vote on the pact, which needs to be ratified by Russia to take effect.

Soldiers and civilians in southern Russia observed a day of mourning in honour of the victims of the suicide truck-bombing that killed 50 people at a military hospital.