Main news of May 31

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in an interview with French daily Le Monde:

- Russia is against NATO expansion toward its borders in principle

- the president will remain the main political figure in Russia but the role of parliament in the political life of the country will gradually increase in the future

- Moscow has no reasons to suspect Iran in secret attempts to develop nuclear weapons

- Russia has settled problems with the British oil company Shell and will not tolerate attempts of colonial use of the country's resources

- the problems that the Russian-British joint oil venture TNK-BP is experiencing now have been prompted by commercial disputes within the company itself

- former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky's possible pardon could be considered by the Russian president if this decision complies with the law

* Georgia's Foreign Ministry accused Russia of plotting a military invasion of its breakaway region of Abkhazia following reports that units of the Russian Railroad Troops entered Abkhazia to help rebuild its railroad infrastructure

* North Korea has fired a number of short-range missiles off the western coast into the Yellow Sea, the Yonhap news agency said

* Robert Dudley, the CEO and president of the British-Russian joint oil venture TNK-BP said he will not resign from his post over a recent dispute with Russian shareholders of the company

* Russia has completed a regular rotation of its peacekeepers in the conflict zone of Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, an aide to the Ground Forces commander said

* Russia's Ground Forces will conduct over 140 operational and tactical field exercises in the second half of this year, an aide to the Ground Forces commander said