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UN Security Council meets in an emergency session to discuss Ukraine

UN Security Council meets in an emergency session to discuss Ukraine

On Friday afternoon (29 August), the United Nations Security Council held an emergency open briefing on Ukraine   The meeting was requested by Ukraine in a letter it sent on Thursday (28 August) following large-scale Russian aerial attacks conducted overnight on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine. Council members Denmark, France, Greece, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Slovenia, and the UK supported the meeting request. Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča briefed the Council at the start of the two-hour meeting. Among the participants and speakers was the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko. Addressing the session, the Head of the EU Delegation to the UN, Ambassador Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, said that the EU objective remains clear: the EU supports an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire. We also welcome the efforts by the US to seek an end to Russia’s war of aggression and to stop the killing. As EU, we contribute to these efforts in order to achieve a just and lasting peace and long-term security for Ukraine and our continent. I urge all members of this Council to use their influence and maximize pressure on Russia to accept an immediate ceasefire and work towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” He said that the EU will remain united in providing political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine, as it exercises its inherent right of self-defence. We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and in defence of the UN Charter and international law. I respectfully submit that this Council, without any wavering or any hesitation, do the same, at a time when Russia intensifies its killings and continues to pursue its illegal objectives, instead of peace.”
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Opinion
Opinion: The South Caucasus is no longer Russia’s backyard

Opinion: The South Caucasus is no longer Russia’s backyard

For decades, Russia has stood at the centre of the South Caucasus’ security order. No peace deal, no war settlement, no major infrastructure project could be imagined without Moscow’s involvement. Yet this year, for the first time in Azerbaijan’s modern history, that assumption has been openly challenged. A series of diplomatic clashes between Baku and Moscow, followed last week by the U.S.-mediated summit in Washington, show that Azerbaijan is willing to confront Russia more directly than ever before, and that the South Caucasus may now be shifting away from Moscow at an accelerated pace.

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Editor's choice
Opinion
Opinion: Thirty years since regaining its independence, Georgia remains committed to restoring fully its European roots and territorial integrity

Opinion: Thirty years since regaining its independence, Georgia remains committed to restoring fully its European roots and territorial integrity

On 26 May 1918, Georgia gained its independence from the Russian Empire. Now, 30 years after reclaiming it from the Soviet Union, a sovereign Georgia remains committed to restoring its territorial integrity and taking its place in the Euro-Atlantic community, writes Giorgi Nakashidze in this op-ed for commonspace.eu.
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Blinken and Lavrov gently get to know each other at Iceland meeting

Blinken and Lavrov gently get to know each other at Iceland meeting

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov approached their first face-to-face meeting, which took place in Iceland on Wednesday (19 May), with caution, and gently started getting to know each other. The two senior diplomats have many more meetings in front of them as they try to adjust US-Russia relations.
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Ceasefire could be agreed soon between Hamas and Israel

Ceasefire could be agreed soon between Hamas and Israel

A high-ranking member of Palestine's Hamas said on Wednesday (19 May) that he believes a ceasefire may be reached between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza within one to two days. The ceasefire would only involve the Gaza frontline and will not include clashes in the West bank and other fronts. 
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Commentary
Commentary: Lavrov's travels and travails in the South Caucasus

Commentary: Lavrov's travels and travails in the South Caucasus

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was in Armenia and in Azerbaijan in the last days. Bilateral issues were discussed in both Baku and Yerevan during his visit, however, it was the regional situation that dominated the discussions in both capitals, and in particular, the implementation in practice of the 10 November “Trilateral Declaration” signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. This is proving easier said than done, and some are asking if Russia has not taken on a poisoned chalice.
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Regional issues dominate Armenian-Georgian talks in Yerevan

Regional issues dominate Armenian-Georgian talks in Yerevan

The Georgian prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, was in Yerevan on Wednesday (12 May) for talks with his Armenian counterpart and other officials. It is a tradition that a new Georgian leader, on taking office, visits the two neighbouring countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Garibashvili was in Baku a week before. Armenia and Georgia renewed their commitment to working together to develop bilateral relations in many fields, but there was also considerable emphasis put on regional co-operation.