Trending
Thailand and Cambodia agree ceasefire after weeks of deadly clashes
27 December 2025
Latest
Latest
- Israel recognises Somaliland, opening a pandora's box in Africa
- Thailand and Cambodia agree ceasefire after weeks of deadly clashes
- Zelensky to meet Trump on Sunday for crucial Ukraine talks
- Opinion: Can the South Caucasus continue to manage geo-political rivalries in 2026?
- Pope on Christmas Day: "Peace is a shared responsibility"
- Season's Greetings from commonspace.eu
Region
Global
Stories in this section cover various issues and stories from all around the world.
Trending
Zelensky to meet Trump on Sunday for crucial Ukraine talks
27 December 2025
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with US president, Donald Trump, in Florida on Sunday (28 December) at 3.00 p.m. local time, in what many see as crucial talks on the future of Ukraine.
Over the weekend, Russia has continued its attacks on Ukraine, with the Ukranian air force warning that a drone and missile threat is in force for the entire country.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk.
Ukraine's president last met President Donald Trump at the White House in October
Ukraine has sought to secure guarantees from the US as part of a peace deal, and Zelensky has suggested that a demilitarised "free economic zone" is a potential option for areas of Donbas that Russia has failed to take by force.
On Friday, Zelensky told reporters that the 20-point plan was 90% complete: "Our task is to make sure everything is 100% ready."
He wrote on social media: "We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. A lot can be decided before the new year."
But in an interview with Politico, published on Friday, Trump said his Ukrainian counterpart "doesn't have anything until I approve it".
"I think it's going to go good with him. I think it's going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin," Trump said.
He also said he expects to speak with the Russian president "soon".
Filter archive
Trending
Blinken and Lavrov meet in India for first time since full-scale Ukraine invasion
3 March 2023
Yesterday, on Thursday (2 March) the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, over one year ago. Taking place in the Indian capital New Delhi, sources report that the two spoke "on the move" for only ten minutes, and apparently not much resulted from it. Blinken reiterated US support for Ukraine, and pressed the Kremlin to reverse their decision to pull out of the 2010 START treaty on nuclear proliferation. In remarks released after his address at the closed-door meeting of foreign ministers, Antony Blinken said, "we must continue to call on Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for the sake of international peace and economic stability". According to reports from the American side, Blinken also brought up the case of the former American soldier Paul Whelan, who in 2020 was sentenced to 16 years hard labour after being convicted of spying by Russian authorities.
Trending
Blinken heads to Central Asia on charm offensive amid increasing international interest in the region
1 March 2023
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has headed to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on his first official visit to the region as President Biden’s top diplomat.
Announcing his departure from US soil overnight on 26-27 February, Secretary of State Blinken said that he was looking forward to “advancing our Central Asian partnerships”. After visiting the Kazakh and Uzbek capitals, he would then head to India for the coming G20 summit.
The timing of the visit is notable, coming only days after the first anniversary of Russia’s disastrous full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which as one of its consequences has seen Central Asia reassert itself regionally and rapidly explore ties with other neighbouring power blocs including the EU, the Middle East, and China.
On 28 February, Blinken had a joint meeting in Astana with the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian nations: Mukhtar Tileuberdi of Kazakhstan; Jeenbek Kulubaev of Kyrgyzstan; Rasit Meredov of Turkmenistan; Sirojiddin Muhriddin of Tajikistan; and Bakhtiyor Saidov of Uzbekistan. He also met with each FM in person in Astana, with the exception of the latter, whom he met later in Tashkent.
Trending
US President Joe Biden visits Kyiv
20 February 2023
The President of the United States Joe Biden has made a surprise visit to Kyiv ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February last year.
On Monday morning (20 February), there were reports of blocked roads and major traffic jams in the Ukrainian capital as speculation built over the potential arrival of an "important guest", according to Ukrainian officials.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and St Michael’s Cathedral has been blocked off with a police and military presence.
Just before midday, pictures emerged on social media showing the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walking alongside the US President Joe Biden in central Kyiv. As Joe Biden was seen walking beside Volodymyr Zelensky outside St Michael's Cathedral, heading towards a memorial wall honouring Ukrainian soldiers fallen in Russia's war against Ukraine since 2014, air raid sirens rang out over the Ukrainian capital.
It was already known that Biden would be visiting Poland to mark one year of Russia's full-scale invasion, but his visit to Kyiv has come as a complete surprise.
Trending
Ramstein summit: no decision on German tanks as countries make military aid pledges
20 January 2023
No decision has been reached on whether Berlin will approve the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at Ramstein Air Force base summit of global defence leaders in Germany on Friday (20 January).
The BBC reports that the Polish Defence Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, remains optimistic that efforts to supply the tanks would be successful, saying, "Defence ministers of 15 countries met on the sidelines of today's conference and we talked about this topic...I am convinced that coalition building will end in success."
Both leading up to and during the summit on Friday, numerous countries had made separate pledges of military equipment to Ukraine. The Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lativa, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany and the United States are among those to have pledged further military aid to Ukraine in the past week.
Trending
Opinion: Armenia - India Relations: Time is right to develop a strategic partnership
17 January 2023
The defeat in the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war shocked Armenia and Armenians all around the world, and destroyed many deeply entrenched perspectives on Armenia's geo-political realities, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. "Armenia should establish new partnerships that will allow Yerevan to decrease its economic and military development gap with Azerbaijan while adding a new layer of deterrence against Turkey in addition to the existing strategic alliance with Russia.
In this context, India is the natural choice for Armenia", he argues. All the necessary ingredients are there to boost Armenia – India relations and bring them to the level of strategic partnership. There is an urgent need to institutionalize the ties, and the first step toward that direction could be establishing an Armenia - India high-level cooperation council. It should have annual sessions with the participation of Armenian and Indian Prime Ministers. At the same time, joint strategic planning groups should be established under the council to develop concrete projects in different spheres.
Trending
Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas in the shadow of the Ukraine-Russia War
7 January 2023
Orthodox Christians all over the world on Saturday (7 January) celebrate Christmas in accordance with the Julian Calander. On the eve, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill delivered a Christmas service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, and the scene was repeated in Christian Orthodox Churches across Eastern Europe and the Middle East and world wide. This Christmas however sees the Orthodox world in conflict with itself as the Ukraine-Russia War rages on.
In the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Ukrainians ventured out into a light dusting of snow to buy gifts, cakes and groceries for Christmas Eve family celebrations.
In a video message, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Ukrainians as “united as never before” and lamented that the conflict has forced many to abandon Christmas folk traditions that prohibit sewing and hunting.
“It is forbidden to sew and knit, but we weave camouflage nets and sew bulletproof vests, overcoming evil. Our ancestors did not go hunting in these days, but we fight so that we do not become prey and to defeat the beast,” he said.
Putin attended services at the Annunciation Cathedral, one of several churches on the grounds of the Kremlin.