Diplomacy

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussles, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who chaired the meeting, said: “This was not an easy discussion, but that is exactly why it was so important.” He noted that NATO Allies are ready to meet again with Russia to discuss a number of topics in greater detail and to put concrete proposals on the table. “There are opportunities for constructive engagement which should not be missed, in the interest of security in Europe,” he said.

"We need time to understand better what happened in Kazakhstan, and why", writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. Whilst sending CSTO troops to Kazakhstan was clearly President Putin's decision to support President Tokayev in the internal fight between Kazakh local elites, the deployment has implications also for other countries participating in the mission, including Armenia.

NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, warned that the buildup of Russian military forces and equipment along the Ukrainian border is continuing and that Russia has failed to respond to international appeals and pressure for de-escalation in recent weeks. Stoltenberg was speaking after an extraordinary virtual meeting with all NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held on Friday, 7 January.

Israeli leaders appear to have recently softened their position as regards a nuclear deal with Iran, saying they would not oppose "a good deal". Israel’s foreign minister, Yair Lapid, said that Israel would have no problem with a strong nuclear deal with Iran on condition that the deal permanently limits Iran’s ability to assemble a nuclear weapon.

As an uneasy calm returns to Kazakhstan, it seems that once again, the only beneficiary from another crisis in the post-Soviet space has been Russian President Vladimir Putin, writes Maximiliaan van Lange in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. Putin’s decision to quickly deploy airborne troops as part of a "peacekeeping force" to support the Kazakh regime in controlling the turmoil surprised even some Russian commentators who have called it inappropriate. But by its actions, Moscow is sending a message that it will not tolerate turmoil in former Soviet states. With this step, Russia has considerably strengthened its position in Kazakhstan and nips in the bud the risk of a domino effect in Central Asia

In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, Georgia's Ambassador to Turkey, George Janjgava. said on Monday (3 January) that his country will not participate in the next 3+3 Caucasus platform meeting to be held in Turkey.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday (27 December) that the first meeting of Turkish and Armenian special envoys is expected to be held in Moscow to discuss the way forward in the normalization of relations between the two countries Speaking in a televised press conference, the top Turkish diplomat noted that the meeting's location was in accordance with Armenia's request.