"This decision is the latest, striking demonstration of how the Russian Federation has chosen confrontation with the EU instead of agreeing to redress the negative trajectory of our bilateral relations", a joint statement issued by the three main EU institutions said on Friday.

Violence erupted on Thursday (29 April) on another border area in the former Soviet space, this time in Central Asia. A ceasefire now appears to be holding on the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan but both sides report casualties in yesterday's clashes.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday (29 April) welcomed Saudi Arabia's new positive tone towards Iran. During an interview on Tuesday (27 April), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's expressed his desire for dialogue and good relations between the two countries. 

US President Joe Biden will send a delegation to countries in the Middle East this week to discuss regional issues, according to Bloomberg News. The delegation will visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Jordan. 

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has dissolved the country's parliament and called snap elections for July 11, shortly after the Constitutional Court canceled a state of emergency that lawmakers had approved.

An informal meeting on the future of Cyprus opens today in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday held separate meetings with the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriots ahead of the plenary session on Wednesday.

The United States came with yet another action with regards to the Yemeni war. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken called the international community to bring Houthi under questioning over their campaign in Marib. The announcement came via a statement on Twitter after Blinken met with the US Envoy to Yemen Timothy Lenderking.

The election of the new Speaker of the Georgian parliament coincides with a thaw in the political crisis as a number of opposition MPs return to parliament following intensive mediation efforts conducted by the European Union.