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Conflict and Peace

Stories related to violent conflicts, diplomatic tensions, and conflict prevention, mediation and resolution.

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Analysis
Briefing: intensive diplomatic efforts around the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process

Briefing: intensive diplomatic efforts around the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process

Intense diplomatic efforts over the last month are a good reflection of a sustained determination on the part of Armenia and Azerbaijan to bring their decades-old conflict to an end, and sign a peace agreement, writes commonspace.eu. Meetings between president Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and prime minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia were held in Brussels on 15 May, with the mediation of EU Council president Charles Michel. The three leaders met again on 1 June in Chisinau, this time also with the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Aliyev and Pashinyan met, together with president Putin of Russia, in Moscow on 25 May. And on 4 June the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan were in Ankara for the inauguration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s new term in office, where they also met informally. The next formal meeting is now set to be held in July in Brussels. A lot is also going on behind the scenes with European and American envoys travelling in the region.

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Iran thanks Saudi Arabia for helping its citizens flee Sudan

Iran has thanked Saudi Arabia for helping its citizens in Sudan evacuate across the Red Sea to the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

65 Iranians were among around 1,900 people evacuated from Sudan to Saudi Arabia on Saturday (29 April) as fighting between the Sudenese army and the rival paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, entered its third week.

patrickn97 Wed, 05/03/2023 - 09:43
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News
Railway sabotage and oil depot explosions in Russia and Crimea as Ukraine gears up for counteroffensive

Railway sabotage and oil depot explosions in Russia and Crimea as Ukraine gears up for counteroffensive

Russia's Bryansk Oblast that borders Ukraine's north-east has now seen two railway derailments in as many days, both reportedly as a result of sabotage. On Monday (1 May), Bryansk Oblast Governor Alexander Bogomaz published a post on his Telegram channel announcing that "an unidentified explosive device" detonated near railway tracks, derailing the train and resulting in the suspension of rail traffic in the area. Overnight on Sunday (30 April), overhead powerlines in Russia's Leningrad Oblast were also blown up, although power supply to populated areas and civil infrastructure was allegedly not disrupted. Then, yesterday on Tuesday (2 May), Russian media reported a second supposed railway sabotage in Bryansk Oblast in as many days. Governor Bogomaz said that railway lines had been blown up near Snezhetskaya station, derailing a locomotive and approximately 20 freight cars. Being critical for logistical operations in their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, railways in Russia's border regions have frequently been targets of suspected sabotage during the ongoing war.
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News
Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Washington D.C. for a week of talks

Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Washington D.C. for a week of talks

On Monday (1 May) the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the first day of talks understood to be taking place until latest Friday (5 May). AFP have reported that the talks will last four days. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, along with their delegations, are meeting at the George P. Schultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, Virginia, a short distance south-west of Washington D.C. Mirzoyan, Bayramov and Blinken are understood to have sat down for negotiations at 09:45 local time yesterday, after both foreign ministers had their own individual meetings with Blinken beforehand. Statements issued by both Armenia and Azerbaijan said that issues of the security situation in the region and the process of normalisation of relations between the two countries were discussed in the meeting hosted by Blinken. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Armenian Service report that the talks are more aimed at "an agreement on the normalisation of relations" rather than a peace treaty, citing a U.S. official speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity.
Air strikes hit Khartoum despite ceasefire, thousands rush to Red Sea for evacuation
The Sudanese capital of Khartoum has been hit with air strikes despite a ceasefire that was supposed to allow civilians to flee. Fighting between the Sudanese army the a rival paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), broke out on Sunday (15 April) as talks over a transition to a civilian government broke down, and a power struggle between the army and the RSF erupted into violence. The army has said that the purpose of the air strikes was to flush out the RSF from the capital, Khartoum, reports the BBC. More than 500 people are confirmed to have been killed in the fighting, with the true number likely much higher. Over the past week, there have been reports of increasing food and water shortages in Khartoum as residents were unable to go outside having been warned against doing so. Despite attempts at enabling civilians to evacuate, millions are believed to still be stuck inside the capital. Last week, many countries evacuated diplomats and civilians from Sudan, including the US, European countries, and many GCC countries. The BBC also reports that aid has begun to arrive in the country, with an International Red Cross flight arriving in the country yesterday, on Sunday (30 April), in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan. 
patrickn97 Mon, 05/01/2023 - 08:42
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News
Russian pre-dawn missile strikes on Ukraine kill at least nineteen

Russian pre-dawn missile strikes on Ukraine kill at least nineteen

Russia has launched another wave of missile strikes at Ukraine before dawn on Friday (28 April), killing at least nineteen people as of 3pm CET. According to Ukrainian national police, at least 17 people were killed after two Russian missiles hit a nine-storey residential building in the central city of Uman. Three children were also rescued from the rubble. In a separate attack, a 31-year-old woman and her 2-year old daughter were killed after a Russian missile hit the eastern city of Dnipro, according to the regional governor, Serhii Lysak. Four people were also wounded. In total, according to Ukrainian authorities Russia fired 23 missiles and two drones at Ukraine before dawn on Friday (28 April). 21 missiles in total were shot down, with 11 missiles and the two drones were intercepted by air defense over Kyiv, said the city hall, with no immediate reports of missiles hitting targets and no reports of casualties. It is the first attack on the city since March. Interfax news agency also reports there have been explosions in the cities of Poltava and Kremenchuk.
Fighting continues in Sudan despite ceasefire, over 500 killed

Fighting is continuing in parts of Sudan despite a 72-hour ceasefire between the Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) larging holding.

The current ceasefire began at midnight local time on Monday, pausing a conflict which erupted on Sunday 15 April amid a power struggle between the leaders of the army and the RSF.

patrickn97 Thu, 04/27/2023 - 12:43