Back when it was cool to be a part of the gang that was going to oust Assad from power in Syria, Turkey’s Erdogan thought it might be advantageous to get in on the action, helping to destabilize Syria. Then the Syria thing turned into a real quagmire and the Americans started backing the Kurds while the Russians were backing Assad, putting the Turks in a bit of a tight spot.
Just a week after the alleged chemical weapon attack in Douma, the one that the US, France, and the UK announced that they have proof of, and that the proof unequivocally pointed at the Syrian government under Assad, they decided to join together as a coalition and to conduct a ‘precision strike’ on Damascus to destroy sites alleged to manufacture or to warehouse chemical weapons.
Columbia is about to become the first Latin American nation to join NATO as its newest member.
The Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos told a press briefing in Bogota “We are getting into the big leagues. We will be measured, compared and evaluated with the best.”
Their membership is to be ratified in Brussels next week.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, talked about how the US embassy and American diplomats meddled in Venezuela’s elections, calling for the opposition to boycott the elections in a bid to undermine its legitimacy, in a recent interview with Deutsche Welle.
Western media, in attempts to parrot the illegitimacy claims, have often pointed to the boycotts that much of the opposition carried out.
Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, refused to give consent to the designated Prime Minister’s picks for high office.
His reasoning was that he didn’t fancy the political perspective that they represented, namely that of the Finance Minister nominee proposed by Giuseppe Conte, who has withdrawn his role as the designated Prime Minister.
Speaking at a plenary session at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Emmanuel Macron, a guest of honor at the international event, which featured over 15,000 participants from over 100 countries, stated. Macron advocated a ‘new economic and social model’ of cooperation between Paris and Moscow, iterating a sentiment that seems to be the polar opposite of the overwhelming rusophobic mentality that has been sweeping the west for going on two years now.
The European Foreign Affairs Council is set to convene in Brussels on Monday to assess the present circumstances of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear development programs following Trump’s American withdrawal from the accord.
European leaders have been relentlessly expressing their desire to maintain the deal without the US and as long as Iran keeps up its end of the bargain, and to do whatever is necessary in order to preserve it.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Beijing this week gives us some important details about what is moving the cogs of her foreign diplomatic and trade relations agenda. Merkel has several reasons, both politically and economically to make this journey.
First of all, China and Germany are both signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, and both parties wish to see it preserved against Donald Trump’s American withdrawal and reimposition of crippling economic sanctions against the Middle Eastern country of 80 million.
In Sochi, Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to boost their relations as well as to identify further areas of mutual interest. India seems also to be keen on potentially doing business within the EAEU, of which Russia is a member, further strengthening their trade relationship. Also on the agenda was security, having to do with establishing a security structure within the region.
Deutsche Welle reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, met in Moscow today to discuss a trio of topics, namely economic cooperation, the North Korea peace agreements that might be in the works, which both parties support, and the Southern Kuril islands issue.
