US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

1 Azerbaijan — Armenia — Russia

The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated during the conference «New Look at the South Caucasus: Post-Conflict Development and Cooperation», which took place in Baku, that Azerbaijan is concerned about the negotiations between Armenia and Russia on the modernization of their armed forced. He noted that Azerbaijan has notified Russia about this matter. He added that he had discussed with Vladimir Putin the information about the discovery of ’Iskander-M’ missile fragments in the city of Shusha. He noted that on 4th of April the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry sent an official request to Russia due to the discovery of the missile fragments. Azerbaijan sent photos, video, and other evidence. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the military of Russia and Azerbaijan are conducting a dialogue on this matter, during which all the related issues are discussed.

2 Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated during a conference that Baku expects proposals from the OSCE Minsk Group to establish a peaceful life in the region. He noted that ’’the peace agreement with Armenia, if Armenia considers such option, will bring many types of activity for the international players, such as the issues of demarcation, delimitation, and interaction». Ilham Aliyev added that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims against Armenia. He stated that Baku, within 3 years, plans to complete all the major infrastructure projects such as railways, highways, power generation and water supply facilities.

3 Russia — Iran

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated during a press conference after the talks with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, that the parties discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh while taking into account the Russian mediation efforts aimed to maintain a sustainable ceasefire. «We agreed on the importance of overcoming the consequences of the conflict, and, in general, achieving a long-term political and diplomatic settlement on a fair basis, in the interests of Armenia and Azerbaijan. We considered the role that the countries of the region could play in this process» — Sergey Lavrov explained. He added that the parties agreed to continue the active interaction within the Astana format to resolve the conflict in Syria.

4 The USA — Afghanistan

The Chief of Staff of the US Army, General James McConville, stated in an interview to ’The Washington Post’ that various options for the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan have been planned. He added that the command of the US military contingent in Afghanistan is ready for possible attacks from the Taliban. Such attacks are possible if the US military won’t leave Afghanistan by 1st of May. This agreement was reached during the signing of a peace agreement in Doha, between the previous US president Donald Trump, and the Taliban.

5 Ukraine

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Aleksiy Danilov, stated during a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions of the EU countries in Ukraine that Ukraine has no plan to return the uncontrolled territories by military means. «Kiev plans to resolve the conflict only via the politico-diplomatic ways» — he explained and added that the Ukrainian forces are ready for the possible escalation of the situation. Earlier, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrey Yermak, stated during an interview to the ’Time’ magazine that the USA should deploy the AA missile systems ’Patriot’ on the Ukrainian territory. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Dmytro Kuleba, stated on air of the ’ICTV’ that “there could be a time when the expressions of concern from other states due to the situation in the eastern Ukraine won’t be enough. We must discuss what kind of support Ukraine can actually receive in case of a large-scale conflict» — end of quote.

6 Belgium

The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, stated at a joint press conference with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytrii Kuleba, that the NATO considers unreasonable and unexplainable the movement of the Russian troops to the border with Ukraine. According to him, «Russia must stop building up forces on the territory of Ukraine, and nearby». Stoltenberg added that «the support of NATO for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine is unshakable.» The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the movement of the Russian troops inside Russia doesn’t threaten other countries in any way. He added that the situation in Donbass is an internal Ukrainian conflict in which the Russian troops have never participated. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.