Diplomacy

In a complicated diplomatic exercise involving US and Georgian diplomats, Armenia and Azerbaijan on Saturday implemented "an exchange" that whilst humanitarian in nature also has deep diplomatic consequences.

G7 leaders met in Cornwall, in the South of England on Friday (11 June) to discuss the main issues of our time.  They are later today expected to commit to using all their resources in an effort to ensure the devastation caused by a pandemic like Covid-19 is never repeated in a declaration that sets out a series of measures intended to achieve this.

On Thursday (10 June), the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, met with Yemeni Foreign Minister, Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak. High Representative/Vice-President Borrell reiterated strong EU support to the Yemeni government and the people of Yemen, highlighting the significant work of the EU in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres.

The special relationship between the US and the UK was reaffirmed today at a meeting of US President Joe Biden and the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, ahead of the G7 summit starting Friday in Cornwall. After the talks Johnson said there is “so much” the US presidential team want to do together with the UK, including security, NATO and climate change.

A sixth round of talks in Vienna between Iran and several global actors is resuming this week in an effort to bring Iran and the JCPOA countries to an agreement on nuclear issues. Iran has expressed its desire to reach an agreement as soon as possible but several obstacles still exist according to Iranian sources. 

An Omani delegation visiting Sanaa met with the leader of the Houthi movement, Abdul Malik al-Houthi. In the meeting, several humanitarian and political issues were discussed. Local reports suggest that there is near consensus on opening the country's main ports.

The government of Kazakhstan, in a statement issued on Saturday (5 June) rebuffed the idea of such a joint response raised last week by Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Pankin who said that the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which brings together Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, was working on a “consolidated response” to Western sanctions against some of its members.

Local authorities in the Yemeni province of Marib have called on the international community to take a stand against what they described as Houthis' crimes against civilians in the province. The remarks came after 14 civilians were killed by an attack on a petrol station in Marib.