Author: Steven Sahiounie

June 29th was marked by advances of joint forces of the Russian Federation, Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics in several directions in the Luhangsk-Severodonetsk metropolitan area. According to various reports, about 1,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign militants are currently deployed in the city of Lisichansk. According to first reports from the front line, Russian-led forces took control of the town of Privolie in the Luhansk People’s Republic. The town is located on the north-western outskirts of the Severodonetsk-Lisichansk metropolitan area. Russian success was possible after the advancing units crossed the Seversky Donets River and established a foothold on the right bank on…

At least 19 ISIS terrorists were killed and 22 others were wounded in central Syria over the last 30 days as a result of Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on June 30. According to the London-based monitoring group, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out more than 370 airstrikes on ISIS’s areas of influence in the central region during the said period. Most of the Russian airstrikes targeted hideouts and equipment of ISIS cells in the eastern Homs countryside, the eastern Hama countryside and the southern countryside of Raqqa. At least nine terrorists…

 EU coordinator for Doha Talks said that the two days of Doha talks were intense, but the EU as coordinator of the talks will even work with greater urgency to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.  Two intense days of proximity talks in Doha on #JCPOA, Unfortunately, not yet the progress the EU team as coordinator had hoped for,” Enrique Mora wrote in a tweet on Wednesday. Mora added that “We will keep working with even greater urgency to bring back on track a key deal for non-proliferation and regional stability,” he said. Talks on lifting the sanctions ended Wednesday evening in…

Kiev also wants to impose a trade embargo on Syria over its recognition of the Donbass republics The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday that it’s severing diplomatic ties with Syria after Damascus recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass. In a statement published on its website, the ministry said it “strongly condemns” Syria’s decision, which it considers an “unfriendly act against Ukraine” and an “encroachment on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “In response to this unfriendly act, Ukraine declares the severance of diplomatic relations with Syria without the severance of consular relations,” the message reads further. Kiev has…

Erdogan says he will discuss establishing a “grain corridor” with Putin and Zelensky. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country has received guarantees from Sweden that it will extradite 73 members of the PKK party, which Ankara has branded as terrorist. “Sweden gave the word on the extradition of terrorists, there are about 73 of them. We were given guarantees,” Erdogan said after the NATO summit in Madrid. The Turkish President hailed the move as a “diplomatic victory”, as Ankara’s conditions were met for talks on Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO. The unidentified suspects, who are due to…

NATO has listed China as one of its strategic priorities for the first time, saying Beijing’s ambitions and its “coercive policies” challenge the Western bloc’s “interests, security and values”. The alliance’s new blueprint, or Strategic Concept, which lays out its priorities for the next decade, was approved at a leader’s summit in Spain on Wednesday. The document directed its harshest language towards Russia, which it described as “the most significant and direct threat” to the alliance’s peace and security, but said Beijing’s military ambitions, its confrontational rhetoric towards Taiwan and its increasingly close ties with Moscow posed “systemic challenges”. “China…

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is actively working to recruit Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) militants detained in prisons and camps controlled by the Kurds in northeastern Syria, in order to send them to Ukraine, the Russian Sputnik News Agency said. Citing a source, it reported that the Americans are transporting Daesh terrorists to their facilities under the pretext of conducting additional investigations with the possibility of their transfer to Europe. “The Kurds have so far handed over several high-ranking leaders and about 90 Daesh fighters to the American side, most of whom are citizens of European Union countries and Iraq,…

The exchange of 144 for 144 prisoners of war took place yesterday, on June 29 The exchange of 144 for 144 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine took place on June 29 on the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Thursday. “Yesterday, on June 29, the exchange of 144 for 144 prisoners of war took place. It was organized and carried out on the direct order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces,” Konashenkov said. The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry…

The Founding Act of 1997 legally remains in force, but has effectively been violated by the US-led bloc, Lavrov claimed Neither Russia nor NATO has ever formally denounced the 1997 Founding Act, but in practice it does not work because the alliance is in violation of it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assessed on Thursday. There were some who believed that the key treaty would be scrapped by NATO during the summit of its leaders in Madrid. “In a legal sense, the Founding Act continues to exist, we have not initiated the procedure for terminating this agreement,” the minister said during…

Ahead of the expected dissolution of the Israeli Knesset, Netanyahu says he does not intend to compete in the coming elections, ending his one-year role as “Israel’s” Prime Minister. Israeli occupation Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will not stand at the upcoming general election, his spokesperson announced Wednesday evening, just hours ahead of the expected dissolution of the parliament. Bennett announced to lawmakers from his Yamina party “his intention not to stand at the next elections,” his spokesperson told the media, as Israeli Knesset members prepared to vote to dissolve “Israel’s” current legislature, paving the way for national elections later this year.…