Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Russian leader recalled that Russia continues to be the main trade and economic partner of Tajikistan It is necessary to continue developing trade and economic relations between Russia and Tajikistan in the light of the current situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a meeting with his counterpart from Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon before the start of the CSTO summit in the Kremlin. The Russian leader recalled that Russia continues to be the main trade and economic partner of Tajikistan. “Last year, our trade grew very strongly, by almost 45%, and this year in the first three months…

Washington intentionally “plays down and keeps a veil of secrecy” over its military biological activity in Ukraine, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said. “The circumstances that have emerged in the course of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine have provided an insight into what is happening in this field (military-biological activity in Ukraine) with the United States pulling the strings,” Ryabkov said at a meeting of the parliamentary commission probing into the US specialists’ role in creating biological laboratories in Ukraine. “Washington intentionally plays down this activity and keeps a veil of secrecy over it, thus denying a chance…

A gunman has opened fire in a southern California church, killing one person and wounding five others before churchgoers detained the suspect and hog-tied him in what officials called an act of “exceptional heroism”. The shooting was reported shortly before 1:30pm on Sunday (20:30 GMT) at the Geneva Presbyterian Church located in the town of Laguna Woods, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Los Angeles, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said on Twitter, Al Jazeera reported. A man died at the scene and four others were critically wounded, while a fifth injured person suffered minor injuries, officials said. All…

The country’s ruling party has followed the example of neighboring Finland Sweden’s ruling Social Democratic Party has announced its support for the country’s NATO membership bid, following a similar move by the Finnish government. In a statement published on Sunday, the Social Democrats pledged “to work for Sweden to apply for membership in NATO.” However, the party leadership stressed that if the application were successful, Sweden would stand “against the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent bases on Swedish territory.” Finland and Sweden decided to reconsider their long-standing policy of non-alignment following a major change in public opinion after the launch of Russia’s…

“As it has been repeatedly noted, Russia has worked for the result, and in terms of our interests, including in the context of peaceful nuclear cooperation with Iran, the text is quite satisfactory for us,” Sergey Ryabkov said The document for returning to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for the settlement around the Iran nuclear program is at a high level of readiness, the remaining problems are of political nature, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Monday. “Now the document is at a high degree of readiness for adoption. There are some…

Seven US mercenaries who were fighting with Kiev forces in the Donbass region were killed at the Krasitel plant in Rubizhnoye city, Apty Alaudinov, an assistant to the head of Chechnya, told RIA Novosti on May 15. Footage showing the passport of one of the slain mercenaries, Joseph Ward Clark, surfaced online earlier. Clark, a native of Washington who was born in 1987, was reportedly an agent of the US intelligence. “The American citizen we are talking about, Joseph Ward Clark, we also have his passport. He, in fact, opposed us at the Krasitel plant, tried to resist. Probably, this…

Hezbollah has been dealt a blow in Lebanon’s parliamentary election, with preliminary results showing losses for some of its oldest allies and the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces party saying it had gained seats. With votes still being counted, the final make-up of the 128-member parliament has yet to emerge. Reuters reports that Hezbollah and its allies won a majority of 71 seats when Lebanon last voted in 2018. The current election is the first since Lebanon’s devastating economic meltdown blamed by the World Bank on ruling politicians after a huge port blast in 2020 that shattered Beirut and the country’s political…

Pentagon said that Russia’s warnings against Sweden and Finland’s alliance membership bids are “concerning” The United States is prepared, if needed, to provide Sweden and Finland with military support as these countries await NATO’s response to their membership applications, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has said. On Sunday both Finland and Sweden formally announced their intention to join NATO, despite multiple warnings from Russia. Moscow, which considers NATO expansion as a direct threat to its own security, has previously pledged to take adequate measures in response. In a BBC interview which was recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday, Kirby said…

The intergovernmental agreement was signed in January 1994 Latvia has decided to suspend rail transit of Belarusian military cargo through the country’s territory to its Baltic seaports, Latvian Ministry of Transport said on Sunday. According to Delfi news website, starting from May 10, Latvia suspended the agreement that allowed direct rail transportation of military cargo from Belarus to third countries through Latvian ports. The intergovernmental agreement on transportation of military goods by rail from Belarus to third countries using the ports of Latvia was signed in January 1994. Source: TASS

On May 12, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said in an interview with Reuters that Ukraine had already spent 245.1 billion hryvnias (about $8.3 billion) on the war with Russia. According to Marchenko, the budget funds provided for development were spent on the military needs from the purchase and repair of weapons to emergency aid for internally displaced persons. The Ukrainian government collected only 60% of the planned tax revenues in April. In May and June this figure may fall down to 45-50%. “Kiev needs foreign financial support as Ukraine is forced to allocate billions of dollars for emergency expenses.…