Elections in Syria

1 Syria

Presidential elections are taking place in Syria. Over 18 million citizens will take part in the elections. Polling stations will work from 7 am to 7 pm. The UK, the USA, Germany, France and Italy called on the international community to not recognize the presidential elections in Syria. The corresponding statement was published on Tuesday by the UK Foreign Office. The statement stated that ’’The elections won’t be free or fair. They won’t be a step towards a political solution to the conflict» — end of quote.

2 Syria — the USA

The Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stated that the US military isn’t going to leave Syria yet. According to Washington — the terrorist threat has yet to be eliminated. John Kirby noted that «the American presence in Syria is small, with less than 1,000 servicemen». According to John Kirby, the US military isn’t involved in other, broader issues within Syria, related to the civil war — they are fighting the ISIS, and their further presence will be judged by the seriousness of the threat.

3 Syria — Russia

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Tu-22M3 long-range bombers that have arrived the day before at the Russian ’Khmeimim’ airbase in Syria began to perform their tasks in the airspace above the Mediterranean Sea. «The long-range bombers Tu-22M3 carried out some training flights over the Mediterranean Sea» — the ministry reported and added that the pilots got new practical skills during the training missions in a new geographic area. The ministry specified that it is the first deployment of such aircraft at the ’Khmeimim’ airbase.

4 Armenia — Azerbaijan

The Armenian Foreign Minister, Ara Ayvazyan, stated that the clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border are the result of the weak reaction of the international community to the actions of the Azerbaijani troops. On Tuesday evening, the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that the Azerbaijani troops fired at the positions of the Armenian troops in the Gegharkunik region. As a result of the shoot-out on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, 1 Armenian soldier was mortally wounded. The Armenian Foreign Ministry called the incident ’’a violation of the international law, and an invasion on the sovereign territory of Armenia’’. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense denied the reports of shelling of the Armenian military positions on the border of the two countries by the Azerbaijani troops. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that the situation on the border is stable, and it called on Armenia to ’’not escalate the situation.»

5 Afghanistan — The USA

The USA consider the development of the relations with the Afghan government and security forces to be their new mission in Afghanistan — the Pentagon’s spokesman, John Kirby, stated. He added that the USA won’t leave the region after the pulling of the troops, since the threats still remain. The ’Ariana News’ TV reported with a reference to a «high-level representative» of the Taliban that the Taliban are ready to participate in the ’Istanbul Conference’ on Afghanistan. Supposedly the Taliban will attend the conference «on the conditions that it won’t be long, the Taliban won’t be represented by a high-level delegation, and the agenda won’t include decisions on the important issues».

6 Russia — The USA

The Kremlin press service reported that the summit of the Russian and US presidents will take place in Geneva, on 16th of June. It was noted that the presidents will discuss the state and plans of a development of the Russian-American relations, the issue of the strategic stability, and issues of the international agenda, including the cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and the settlement of the regional conflicts. Washington noted that the negotiations are expected to be difficult. However, they are seen as an opportunity to move towards more stable and predictable relationship. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS