
Russian President Vladimir Putin labeled the sale of 19.5% of state-owned oil giant Rosneft's shares to the natural resource trader Glencore International and a Qatari sovereign wealth fund for over $11 billion was the biggest sale and acquisition in the world’s oil and gas sector in 2016, the official Kremlin website reported Wednesday.

As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has reached a deal among all 14 members to cut oil production for the first time since 2008, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said his country was ready to do its part by reducing 300,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2017, provided OPEC adheres to the level of 32.5 mln barrels daily adjusted for Indonesia and on condition of maximum reciprocity from other non-OPEC countries. Russia is not an OPEC member.

Putin's victories are our victories, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told Russia's State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Tuesday during funerary ceremonies in Havana to mark the passing away of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given a Russian passport to US action film star Steven Seagal in a moved aimed at easing relations with the United States.

The draft for a presidential decree, available on the internet, would mean that Russia will accept the proposal of the Russian Ministry of Justice in agreement with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other federal bodies of executive power, along with the Russian Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation and the Russian Investigative Committee, about sending the Secretary General of the United Nations notice of the intention of the Russian Federation to no longer be a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

World cereal production for 2016 should amount to 2 571 million tonnes, up marginally from FAO's October forecast and 1.5% above the 2015 output. The updated figure, released Monday in the Cereal and Supply Demand Brief, reflects a substantial upgrade of the outlook for world wheat production, which is now expected to rise to 746.7 million tonnes, a 4.3 million increase from FAO's October forecast.

Russia has withdrawn a request to refuel its warships in Ceuta, after Spain became the subject of international criticism, from the NATO secretary general among others. Spain had recently signed statements accusing Russia of war crimes in Syria, where it’s believed the ships are headed.

Argentina extended on Monday its congratulations to Portuguese former prime minister and ex UN High commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres for his appointment by the UN General Assembly as the next UN Secretary General for the 2017/2021 period.

By José María Figueres (*) - The key to protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea may well lie with Russia. On Monday the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, comprising 24 nations and the European Union, will discuss, once again, the creation of a large, marine protected area in the Southern Ocean.

Iran rejected on Tuesday an offer from Saudi Arabia to limit its oil output in exchange for Riyadh cutting supply, dashing market hopes the two major OPEC producers would find a compromise this week to help ease a global glut of crude.