- Moscow calls on parties to the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program to show restraint and avoid moves that could escalate tensions
- He does not rule out a split in Iraq if no progress is achieved in resolving the situation in the country
* Pyongyang has no plans to conduct new nuclear tests, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said
* Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said Russia and Ukraine agreed on supplies of at least 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2007 at a price of $130 per 1,000 cubic meters
* Five Russian sailors who survived 24 hours in stormy seas after their cargo ship sank in the West Pacific are in a stable condition in a South Korean hospital, one of the crew members reported by phone
* The head of Shell Russia said the oil company does not intend to sell its stake in the Sakhalin II oil and gas project in Russia's Far East
* Russia's environmental protection agencies are failing to fulfill their responsibilities to enforce environmental legislation, Igor Buksman, the first deputy prosecutor general, said
* Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said the agency for mineral resources, and oil and gas companies will be given six months to update their licensing agreements
* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said:
- Russia may complete talks on its accession to the World Trade Organization with the United States by the end of October as planned
- Existing production-sharing agreements should not be reviewed
* Georgia and Iran signed a barter agreement on electricity supplies from Iran, Georgian Energy Minister Nika Gilauri said
* Russia's security officers detained an official from the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on suspicion of spying for Lithuania, the Federal Security Service said
* Russian export crude blend crude oil (REBCO) futures fetched an average of $55.25-$58.95 per barrel during their first day of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange October 23, NYMEX said
* An oil pipeline that burst in the Chelyabinsk Region in the Russia's Urals has spilled crude over an area of 5,500 square meters, a local emergencies ministry official said
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the World Congress of Compatriots in St. Petersburg:
- the government will allocate 4.6 billion rubles ($171.13 million) in 2007 on a voluntary repatriation program for Russians living abroad
- he pledged to counter illegal immigration in Russia, and at the same time to simplify the legalization of those living and working in the country
- Russia will continue to pressure Latvia and Estonia until they resolve the problem of non-citizens living in their countries
* The Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman said Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will visit China November 9-10
* Ukraine has offered to send a military contingent to take part in the UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk said
* The European Space Agency has decided to take part in a Russian simulated flight to Mars, and two Europeans could be among the volunteers, a Russian scientist said
