Send to KindleA split has emerged between the US and Russia over Iran’s participation in Syrian peace talks planned for next week.
“We would support Iran coming if it supported the goals of the conference,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Monday in Paris at a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and United Nations Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
“No other nation has its people on the ground fighting in the way that they are,” Kerry said, as cited by Bloomberg.
“It’s quite clear Iran and Saudi Arabia should participate in this conference,” Lavrov said. “One cannot be influenced by ideological sentiments so much that it harms the course of the talks.”
Kerry and Lavrov met privately before joining Brahimi to discuss the US-Russia effort to have the Syrian government and opposition meet for the first time since the conflict began. To build confidence before the talks, set for Geneva on January 22, the US and Russia will push both sides to establish localized ceasefires, consider exchanging prisoners of war, and expand humanitarian access, Kerry and Lavrov said.
China, Russia, and Iran have called for an end to all “illegal and unilateral sanctions” against Tehran, urging the abandonment of “threats of force”
The United States has strongly condemned recent killings in western Syria, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing outrage at the murders
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have carried out strikes on military targets and weapon storage sites in southern Syria, according to an announcement made early Wednesday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the establishment of the "Grain from Ukraine" fund, aiming to support efforts to stabilize Syria by providing security and economic opportunities
The Russian cargo ship Ursa Major sank off the Spanish coast on December 23, following an explosion onboard
The United States has withdrawn a USD 10 million reward for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani), Syria's newly appointed leader and head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group
A group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) has raised urgent concerns with the European Commission regarding the ongoing detention of Saudi political activist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi in Bulgaria
Montenegro’s Minister for European Affairs, Majda Gorgević, reaffirmed in an interview with BGNES that Chinese investments do not threaten the country’s EU aspirations
Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev has been invited to speak before the European Parliament in Brussels on April 22
During the "EU Meets the Balkans" forum in Sofia, North Macedonia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Zoran Dimitrovski addressed ongoing concerns surrounding his country's EU accession process
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared that the era of a unified West is over, stating that only Europe remains as a bastion of the values traditionally associated with the Western alliance
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos emphasized that the expansion of the European Union remains one of the top priorities of the current European Commission
Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update
Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase
