A week after Putin's peace summit in Sochi, the President of Russia visited the Russian airbase in Hmeimim, Syria, on Monday. During his visit, Putin announced that he will withdraw a great part of the Russian forces currently stationed in Syria. Putin also met with Bashar Al Assad, and they claimed that ISIS was defeated, hence the withdrawal.
The US decided on Wednesday to move their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The decision is controversial, as it means a de facto recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Trump administration argues that this merely awknowledges a reality, as all of Israel's government institutions are based in Jerusalem. The foreign embassies, however, are based in Tel Aviv.
On Friday's third vote to extend the Joint Investigative Mechanism in Syria, the UN Security Council failed to reach consensus after Russia's veto. The veto blocks the continuation of a UN investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which crossed Obama's 'red line' last April. This is the third vote to fail following a Russian veto, which prompted France, the UK and America to heavily criticise Russia's behaviour regarding the Syrian conflict. The veto is the 11th so far in a series of UN resolutions trying to solve the conflict in Syria.
Read More
Saudi Arabia accuses Qatar of backing Iran and Islamist groups, a similar view held by Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Egypt as a timeline ranging from 48 hours up to two weeks has been given to Qatari nationals/diplomats, to vacate each state. Qatar claims there is no premise on which the claims are supported while the United States encourages a ‘sit-down’ in order to discuss the issue(s). Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke from Sydney that “If there's any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) remain united.”
Read More
Following her meeting with President Trump, Prime Minister May has met with Turkey’s Erdogan to being develop new trading relationships, in light of the vote in 2016 to leave the European Union. The UK has signed a £100 million deal to design new fighter jets for Turkey (with Rolls-Royce poised to produce the engines). The announcement in Ankara yesterday means BAE Systems and Turkish Aerospace Industries have signed a “heads of agreement”, establishing a partnership for the development of the Turkish Fighter Programme or TF-X. Downing Street sources said the £100m contract has the potential to facilitate multibillion pound contracts between the UK and Turkish firms over the project’s 20-year lifetime.
Read More
Ceasefire which has been announced by Russia on Wednesday has started today at 09 a.m. local time and will last for the next 10 hours. This period of time is aimed at giving rebels and civilians an opportunity to leave the East part of the city of Aleppo without the fear of getting caught in the crossfire. Russian army committed to open a safe humanitarian corridors which would allow people to get out of the beset town.
Read More
Iraqi government and Kurdish forces launched on Monday an offensive to retake Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, from ISIS. The city, which had been taken in a lightning assault in June 2014, represents the group’s last major stronghold in the country and is defended by an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 fighters. Approximately 1 million people still live in the city, raising fears of civilian casualties, refugee outflow and massacres along sectarian lines. The offensive receives significant air support for US-led anti-ISIS coalition planes.
Read More
A series of escalations have taken place in Yemen this week following Saturday’s strike by Saudi-led coalition on country’s capital of Sana’a which claimed over 140 dead and more than 500 wounded. After failed missile attacks on a US military vessel, the US launched strikes on three radar station controlled by the rebel Houthi movement. Iran in turn responded by deploying two destroyers to Yemen’s coast, while Houthis fired at Saudi air base. Meanwhile, US lawmakers mull halting of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Read More
In a meeting of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council of Russia deputy defence minister Nikolai Pankov announced a plan to establish a permanent naval base in Tartus in Syria. According to Pankov, the preparations for the base are relatively advanced and the project should be approved soon. Russia is currently using Tartus naval facilities, but they date from 1970s and require modernisation and enlargement in order to accommodate larger warships.
Read More Over 140 people died and over 500 were wounded in a series of air strike in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. Fighter jets of a Saudi-led coalition struck three times, destroying a hall which held a funeral of the father of one of Houthi leaders. Though a few of the victims were Houthi military officers and politicians, the number of dead suggests that many civilians were killed as well. Saudis initially denied any responsibility, but acquiesced on Sunday to demands for an immediate investigation under pressure from the UN and US, which condemned the air strikes.
Read More
