Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said relations between Moscow and Washington were key to ensuring global stability and called for dialogue based on "equality and respect."

In a message to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Independence Day in the United States, Putin said U.S.-Russian relations were "the key factor in ensuring stability and security in the world, despite the differences" between the two countries.

A Russian gay couple has been granted asylum in Finland because of the discrimination they faced at home over their sexual orientation, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported on Friday.

Vladimir Naumov and Vasily Kolesnikov applied for asylum in the Nordic country in September 2014 and the two men were informed earlier this week that it had been granted, the paper said.

Pro-Russian fighters have withdrawn from a strategic frontline village, Ukraine's military reported on Friday, although some troops doubted whether the surprise retreat and lull in fighting would last.

Lying just 10 kilometers (six miles) east of the Sea of Azov industrial port of Mariupol -- the target of repeated rebel attacks -- Shyrokyne has been one of the deadliest hotspots of the 15-month separatist crisis in the ex-Soviet state's industrial east.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said Ukraine's perceived failure to agree with rebels on implementing a peace deal was "alarming" and urged the West to pressure Kiev.

"The situation is alarming because we're witnessing a tendency, if you will," Russia's top diplomat told reporters.

World powers and Tehran are close to a deal on curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions and the marathon negotiations look set to be successfully concluded "in the coming days," Russia's top negotiator said Thursday.

"I can't predict how many hours it will take to resolve this situation. But all parties are of the opinion that this matter will be resolved in the coming days," negotiator Sergei Ryabkov told the Russian TASS news agency.

Moscow is to give Armenia a $200 million loan to purchase sophisticated Russian weapons at a discount, officials in Yerevan said on Thursday.

Armenia, which hosts a Russian military base, has been shaken by nearly two weeks of protests over plans by a Russian-owned company to hike electricity prices in the small Caucasus country. 

Russia on Thursday criticized proposed changes to Ukraine's constitution, saying Kiev authorities "absolutely" ignored the demands put forward by Moscow-aligned separatists.

On Wednesday Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed constitutional changes giving more powers to the regions but refusing to spell out the rebels' semi-autonomous status in the constitution.

A new public-relations war raged Thursday between Moscow and Kiev after Ukraine deported a reporter with Russia's Channel One television for allegedly running "destructive" stories about the crisis-torn ex-Soviet state.

Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) said it had expelled Alexandra Cherepnina for basing one of her stories on a home video in which a Ukrainian child was shown performing a Nazi salute and wielding a knife while calling for the murder of Russians.

Moscow on Wednesday slammed Finland for refusing entry to the speaker of Russia's parliament in the latest high-profile spat between the Kremlin and the European Union over the blacklisting of officials due to the Ukraine crisis.

The Finnish foreign ministry said Wednesday that it has barred six Russian officials, including the speaker of parliament's Duma lower house Sergei Naryshkin, from attending an upcoming Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Helsinki. 

NATO should beef up its maritime arm in response to the rising threat from an increasingly "bold" and "aggressive" Russia, commanders said on Wednesday.

The 28-member defense alliance's naval forces have in recent years focused on issues such as counter-terrorism and piracy, but speakers at a London conference said the group needed to prepare more to counter Russian military ambitions.