Armenia cancels the martial law

1 Syria — Iraq

The Syrian news agency ’SANA’ reported while citing their sources that the US forces sent hundreds of oil tanks from north-east of Syria to Iraq. «This morning the US occupation forces sent a convoy of 300 oil tanks, full of stolen Syrian oil, to the Iraqi territory» — the ’SANA’ reported. It was noted that the convoy crossed the border via the illegal border crossing point ’Al-Mahmoudiya’, which is located 1 km south of the Al-walid checkpoint. In the recent months, dozens of convoys with stolen Syrian oil from the Syrian province of Hasakah have crossed the Syrian-Iraqi border.

2 Russia — China

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stated at a joint press conference with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, that Russia has no ties with the EU anymore. «The entire infrastructure of the relations was destroyed by the one-sided decisions from Brussels» — Sergey Lavrov explained and added that only some European countries, guided by their national interests, remained as the Russian partners. He added that such turn of events leads to the fact that the relations between Russia and China are developing faster than what is left of the relations with European countries. «When the EU deems it necessary to eliminate the anomaly in the relations, then Russia will be ready, on the basis of equality and the balance of interests, to restore the relations» — Sergey Lavrov concluded.

3 Armenia

The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Ararat Mirzoyan, stated during the recent parliamentary session that on 24th of March, the martial law will be finally lifted in Armenia. He explained that on Wednesday, the parliamentary majority of Armenia — the political group «My Step» — will vote for the abolition of martial law in the country. «We will demonstrate a sign of goodwill. There is a political agreement on holding early elections, which can’t take place during the martial law» — Mirzoyan explained. The martial law was introduced in Armenia at the end of September 2020, due to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

4 Brussels

During the meeting of the NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, stated at the beginning that the American troops will leave Afghanistan only after an agreement with the NATO allies. He added that he came to the meeting for consultations. «When the right time comes, we will leave together. We are united with the NATO allies in this matter» — the ’TASS’ news agency quoted Blinken. The ’TASS’ added that one of the main topics of discussion at the meeting of the foreign ministers of 30 NATO countries, which takes place on 23rd and 24th of March in Brussels, is the discussion of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The ministers will discuss the possibility of pulling the NATO troops from Afghanistan after almost 20 years of hostilities.

5 Brussels

While speaking at a webinar on the topic of «Enhancement of the Transatlantic Ties» in Brussels, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that the NATO wants Turkey to not distance itself from the NATO, despite the differences. According to him, the NATO can become stronger if it overcomes the differences. He called the contract on the supply of S-400 air defense systems from Russia to Ankara in 2017 to be one of the main problems in the relations with Turkey.

6 Russia

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that 3 crew members of a Tu-22M3 aircraft died as a result of a malfunction of the ejection system. It was noted that during the planned preparation for the flight of the bomber at the airfield in the Kaluga region, a sudden activation of the ejection system took place. «Due to the insufficient height to deploy the parachutes, 3 crew members were fatally injured after falling» — the ministry specified. The ’TASS’ news agency reported while citing their sources that one crew member survived, and was taken to a hospital in Shaikovka. «A commission from the Russian Air Force arrived at the airfield to conduct a technical inspection of the aircraft in order to establish the cause of the accident» — the ministry added. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.