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Georgia celebrates Independence Day, events around the world to mark occasion
26 May 2023
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Moscow and Minsk to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, use remains “extraordinarily unlikely”
26 May 2023
Yesterday on Thursday (25 May), the Russian and Belarusian defence ministers Sergei Shoigu and Viktor Khrenin signed documents on placing Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus.
According to the Russian state-controlled news agency Interfax, Shoigu said at the meeting that decisions over the control and use of the nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus would remain under the control of Russia.
Shoigu added that Russia may take "additional measures" in the future "to ensure the security of the Union State [of Russia and Belarus] and respond to the military-political situation".
Russian President Vladimir Putin, and especially TV propagandists, have consistently threatened the West with nuclear weapons as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched on 24 February last year has foundered. On 25 March this year, President Putin threatened to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus "for training", although Belarus has worked towards this development for some time.In their daily assessment of the Russian offensive campaign against Ukraine, the Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the chance of Russia using the nuclear weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere is "extraordinarily unlikely".
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Briefing: Pashinyan ready to sign, not everyone in Stepanakert is happy, Baku hopeful but keeping up pressure
25 May 2023
As Armenia and Azerbaijan edge closer to signing an agreement ending decades of conflict between them, the future of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh remains one of the most crucial outstanding issues, writes commonspace.eu.
Intense discussions and negotiations have been ongoing throughout May, with meetings in Washington, Brussels and Moscow involving the leaders of the two countries, their foreign ministers, and other senior officials. In a lengthy press conference on 22 May, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he wants to reach an agreement "as soon as possible".
The international community's perception of the negotiations is that Armenia and Azerbaijan should, without reservations, recognise each other's territorial integrity of 29,800 square kilometers and 86,600 square kilometers, respectively, said Pashinyan.
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Kazakhstan and EU discuss next steps to deepen cooperation in key areas
25 May 2023
Representatives of Kazakhstan and the European Union met in the Kazakh capital Astana on Tuesday (23 May) to discuss the next steps for deeping their partnership at the 20th meeting of their mutual Cooperation Committee.
The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Roman Vassilenko, and Luc Devigne, the Deputy Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia and OSCE from the European External Action Service. Also present at the meeting were representatives of Kazakh ministries and agencies, various directorates of the European Commission, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps of EU member states.
The Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that the discussion focused on the practical implementation of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between Kazakhstan and the EU and its member states, which covers 29 areas.
Kazakhstan and the EU discussed cooperation in political, trade and economic spheres, the rule of law and human rights, as well as interaction in transport, energy, education and science, environmental protection and combating climate change.
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Georgia and Qatar to sign agreement on innovation and technology cooperation after leaders meet in Doha
24 May 2023
Georgia and Qatar are to sign an agreement on innovation and technology cooperation, the Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili announced on Tuesday (23 May).
The announcement came after the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani met in Doha on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum that is running from 23-25 May.
Davitashvili said that the Georgian delegation had meetings with a number of sectoral ministries in which they discussed opportunities for cooperation between Georgia and Qatar. Transport, logistics, and Georgia's key role in the Middle Corridor facilitating east-west trade were emphasised in the meetings, according to Davitashvili, who said that there is an increased interest in the country from "many states of the world, including Qatari investors", amid geopolitical challenges.
The meetings also touched on trade and economic issues, as well as the the agreements on Mutual Support and Protection of Investments and on Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation, signed last year between Georgia and Qatar.
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Editorial: Saudi Arabia injects new energy into a moribund Arab League
23 May 2023
Following last week's Arab League summit in Jeddah, "it is expected that Saudi Arabia will continue to use its year-long chairmanship of the Arab League to reshape the institution, and more broadly to reconfigure pan Arab-affairs, of course with Saudi Arabia at the helm," writes commonspace.eu in this editorial. "For it is this new ambition of the Kingdom to become a leading regional and global player that has defined the summit, and will define its chairmanship of the Arab League over the next year." The summit formally healed some of the divisions of the last decade. Syria’s President Bashar al Assad attended, marking the full return of Syria into the Arab fold. There was a lot of talk of a new era of peace in the Middle East, and even Iran was now perceived as more of a partner rather than an enemy. Yet the summit gathered whilst a few miles away, across the waters of the Red Sea from Jeddah, a bloody civil war raged on in Sudan.