A ceasefire in Libya

1 Russia — Turkey — Libya

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia and Turkey are working together on an agreement on the Libyan settlement, which could help to legalize the ceasefire in Libya. «The consultations that took place a few days ago in Ankara, between the Russian and Turkish diplomats and the representatives of the defense ministries, were aimed at helping the parties to introduce the ceasefire into the legal level, which has actually been established over the past couple of months. I hope that we can finish it» — said Sergey Lavrov in an interview to the Al Arabiya TV. He underlined that Russia initially established and maintained the contacts with all the Libyan parties. According to Lavrov — it is the only way to ensure «the completion of the political process of the restoration of the Libyan statehood, and to resolve all issues regarding the future of Libya, while taking into account the balance of interests of all 3 parts of the country. Russia and Turkey can only provide mediation services to the parties in order to stabilize the situation so that the hostilities do not resume. Then we need to return to the implementation of the Berlin agreements” — the Russian Foreign Minister concluded.

2 Russia

The press service of the Western Military District of Russia reported that an SU-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight in the Tver region. «The pilots ejected safely. They made a radio report after the landing» — the report stated. The pilots were evacuated back to their airbase. The press service noted that «the fighter jet crashed in a wooded area. There was no destruction on the ground. In order to establish the causes and circumstances of the accident, a commission of the Western Military District was sent to the crash site» — end of quote.

3 Syria

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, stated during an interview to the ‘Al Arabiya’ TV that the Russian and the Syrian forces aren’t conducting any military operations in Idlib that could harm the civilians and the civilian infrastructure. «We use force only to defend ourselves against the attacks of the ‘Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’ group. We use it precisely, in order to not hurt the civilians and the civilian facilities» — he explained. “I can assure you that we are taking all the necessary steps to implement the international humanitarian law, to the maximum extent possible” — Sergei Lavrov said and added that the work of the constitutional committee continues. «The process isn’t moving as fast as we would like it to go. But we can’t say that the Syrian government should be blamed for it. The government could be more active, however. We have already sent such a request to Damascus, during my visit» — Sergei Lavrov concluded.

4 Russia — Iran

The head of the Russian Federal Council Committee on the International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, stated that Moscow and Tehran will continue to cooperate despite the new US sanctions. «There will be a meeting of the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on the trade and economic cooperation, during this autumn. The interactions will continue, despite the yet-another pre-election surge of the American sanctions activity, which became an unpleasant and familiar background noise for many international activities, to which everyone is now adapting, one way or another» — Konstantin Kosachev stated on Facebook.

5 The USA — Iran

Donald Trump stated during a campaign rally in Dayton that the USA remain committed to a deal with Iran, and the USA are in favor of Iran being a strong state. Donald Trump expressed his confidence that if he’ll get re-elected in November — Tehran will express their desire to sign the agreement «in about 9 seconds». On Monday, the US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, announced new sanctions against the Iranian Defense Ministry. Namely, against the ‘Iranian Defense Industries Organization’ and their director. And also — against several people and legal entities, associated with the Iranian uranium enrichment program, and the creation of ballistic missiles. The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, stated that the new US sanctions would «no longer have a significant impact on Iran».