Diplomacy

In an announcement on Friday (5 June), the Council of the European Union, which represents the 27 member states, said that it has decided to strengthen the existing restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus by introducing a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds.

The African Union strongly urged the Malian military "to urgently and unconditionally return to the barracks, and to refrain from further interference in the political processes in Mali."

Charles Michel stressed the importance for the European Union of stability and prosperity of the South Caucasus and of deepening relations with the two partner countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Less than three weeks before crucial parliamentary elections in Armenia, France embraced the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, who was on a short working visit to Paris. At a meeting at the Elysee Palace, France's president, Emmanuel Macron, assured Pashinyan that "France will always be at Armenia's side".

The General Secretariat of the Arab League announced that Qatar will host a consultative meeting of the League Council at the level of Arab foreign ministers on 8 June. The meeting is part of the League's keenness to increase the frequency and intensity of consultation on topics of common interest.

The Kremlin has provided some insights on the meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, held in Sochi on Friday and Saturday  (28 - 29  May), saying that they focused on trade, economic relations and the fight against the pandemic. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday that the incident with the Ryanair flight was also discussed.

Senior officials from the two countries "agreed that Turkey and the U.S. should continue joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in regions, including Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine", Turkish sources said.

Mali's constitutional court on Friday (28 May) named coup leader, Colonel Assimi Goïta, as the country's transitional president. Col Goïta had already declared himself interim president on Wednesday, two days after seizing power in a military coup. The court said this was due to the "vacancy in the presidency".