Author: Steven Sahiounie

On September 27, Nord Stream AG reported unprecedented destruction at three threads of its Nord Stream pipeline that occurred the day before Former US President Donald Trump did not reveal who was responsible for the Nord Stream sabotage, but assured that it was definitely not Russia. “I don’t want to get our country in trouble, so I won’t answer it,” Trump told the Fox News TV channel in an interview on Tuesday, replying to a question on who was behind the sabotage. “But I can tell you who it [the perpetrator of the sabotage] wasn’t: Russia,” the former president said.…

Sofia Sapega was detained on May 23, 2021, at Minsk airport along with Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist in Belarus The Russian Consul in Belarus visited Russian national Sofia Sapega, sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in Belarus, and received her consent to be extradited to Russia, Alexey Maskalev, the spokesman of the Russian embassy to Minsk, told TASS on Wednesday. “Earlier, the embassy sent a request to the relevant Belarusian bodies for another visit to several Russian citizens imprisoned in Belarus, including Sofia Sapega, who is serving her sentence in a…

A former Chinese diplomat says the US failure to understand China’s rise was the main obstacle to improving bilateral ties between the two sides. Unless the United States fundamentally changes its attitude toward China, there’s no point in talks on ways to safeguard the relationship, a veteran Chinese diplomat considered, as reported by Bloomberg. “China-US relations are very much strained,” indicated Xu Bu, head of the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “One of the most important causes is that the United States is worried that China may surpass it,” Xu said. The…

The Syrian government decides to reopen the Syrian embassy in Tunisia and appoint an ambassador soon. Syria will reopen its diplomatic mission in Tunisia and appoint an ambassador there, Damascus and Tunis announced in a joint statement on Wednesday after more than a decade of strained ties. Syria’s decision followed a similar move by Tunis on April 3, when Tunisian President Kais Saied instructed his Foreign Minister to begin procedures to appoint an ambassador to Damascus. “In response to the initiative of the President of the Tunisian Republic… the Syrian government… decided to reopen the Syrian embassy in Tunisia, and to appoint an…

The Saudi Foreign Ministry says the Syrian and Saudi foreign ministers will hold talks on efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Wednesday arrived in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi statement confirmed, on the first such trip since the outbreak of the war on Syria. According to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, Mekdad flew to Jeddah after an invitation from his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal Bin Farhan. The two top diplomats will “hold a session of talks on efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the unity, security…

A report says France has spoken out against an EU proposal of purchasing ammunition from third countries for financing munitions supplies to Ukraine. France is blocking the unanimous decision of the European Union on financing munitions supplies to Ukraine as it opposes the idea of procurement outside the EU, Polish news agency PAP reported on Wednesday, citing a senior EU official. On March 20, the EU agreed on a 2-billion-euro ($2.2 billion) plan to supply Ukraine with ammunition rounds. One-half of the sum should be spent on reimbursing munition supplies from the warehouses of EU countries, but there is not enough ammunition stored there.…

A report shows the lack of funding and the continued support for Ukraine have made it difficult for Berlin to fulfill its commitment to the alliance. An internal appraisal by Germany’s Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, stated, as cited by the media outlet Bild, that due to the continued support for Kiev, as well as a lack of funding, the nation has failed to fulfill its NATO commitments. A 14-page analysis put forward early in March and published on Tuesday noted that the combat readiness of the German NATO division that was pledged for 2025 will only be “limited”. The analysis, which was…

The collection of US leaked documents includes accusations that Washington has been spying on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s national security advisors in order to gain arms shipments for Ukraine. On Wednesday, South Korea’s opposition urged the government to investigate alleged US espionage after leaked papers appeared to reveal Washington snooping on its important Asian partner. A new batch of recently leaked classified US documents suggests that Washington has been eavesdropping on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s national security advisors in order to gain arms shipments for Ukraine. Despite confirming the legitimacy of the documents, defense officials have claimed that some of the files…

The action was taken prior to a neck-and-neck race between the ruling New Democracy and opposition Syriza parties. Greek MPs voted to ban the far-right National Party-Greeks from running in elections that will take place on May 21, as per local media. According to the state-run AMNA news agency, the main opposition Syriza party abstained while the center-right ruling New Democracy and center-left opposition Psaok parties both voted in favor. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras accused the administration of systemic amateurism in an address to the parliament. “In the end, you manage to become the best sponsors of the Kasidiaris party (Greeks-National Party).…

The primary aim of the drill was to test the “advanced combat equipment of intercontinental ballistic missiles.” Russia has successfully test-fired an “advanced” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as per the Russian Ministry of Defense. The ministry said in a statement that a “combat crew successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of a mobile ground-based missile system” from its Kapustin Yar test site on Tuesday. “The missile’s training warhead hit a mock target at the Sary-Shagan training ground (Republic of Kazakhstan) with given precision,” it added. Although the type of missile used in the launch on Tuesday was not specified by…