The humanitarian situation in Syria

1 Syria

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to discuss with the Western countries the humanitarian situation in Syria, if they recognize the real problems there, and the responsibility they bear. He noted that the situation in Idlib province, where, «despite the active efforts of Turkish colleagues», the terrorist group ’Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham’ still plays the main role. The group «holds many civilians hostage in there». The humanitarian situation in Syria is getting worse by the US sanctions, and the illegal occupation by the US forces of the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. Sergey Lavrov added that «there is a plunder of natural resources of Syria that takes place in there. The profits are used to finance the projects that are perceived by many as pro-separatist that provoke the collapse of Syria.»

2 Russia — The OSCE

Negotiations took place between the OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid, and the Russian Foreign Minister — Sergei Lavrov. During a press conference after the negotiations Helga Schmid stated that the parties discussed the work of the Minsk Group, and the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Schmid thanked Russia for participating in the work of the Minsk Group on the settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh. «We are grateful to Russia for the work in the group. We hope that the Russian participation will continue. We believe that this is a good platform for rapprochement of the positions, and achieving of peace» — she concluded.

3 Armenia

Early parliamentary elections took place in Armenia. According to the CEC, after counting of ballots from all polling stations, Nikol Pashinyan’s «Civil Contract» party won with 53.92% of votes. The turn-out in the elections was 49.4%. It became known that «Armenia», the political party of the former president of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, doesn’t recognize the results of the early parliamentary elections. The political party «Armenia» intends to appeal to the Constitutional Court to appeal the results.

4 Pakistan — Afghanistan

The Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan stated in an interview to the ’HBO’ and the ’Axios’ news agency that he has a concern about the pulling of the US forces from Afghanistan, since there is no political settlement in that country. He explained that there is no military solution to the situation in Afghanistan, but a political settlement hasn’t been reached yet, and «there is a possibility of a civil war». According to him, a political settlement in Afghanistan means the creation of a coalition government which will include representatives of the Taliban and representatives of the other side. «There is no other solution» — Imran Khan concluded.

5 Georgia

The press service of the Georgian government reported that the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, ordered the creation of a state commission to develop and implement the state strategy of Georgia for the de-occupation and peaceful resolution of conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Commission will be chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6 The EU — Belarus

The EU has imposed the 4th package of sanctions against Belarus — the head of the Council of Europe, Charles Michel, reported on Twitter. The package of sanctions was approved at a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Earlier, the head of the EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell, stated that 86 people and legal entities will be included in the list. In the coming days, the EU will adopt sectoral economic sanctions against Belarus. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS