Russia has today submitted to the UN Security Council a draft Resolution making the memorandum on ‘de-escalation areas’ signed by Russia, Turkey and Iran a formal UN document.
The reason why Chinese President Xi Jinping recently felt driven to send a personal message to Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirming China’s friendship and de facto alliance with Russia became all too clear when then Trump administration published on the White House website on Thursday 27th April 2017 a list of its foreign policy achievements in its first 100 days.
Even as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to signal a softening of the US stance towards North Korea during today’s UN Security Council session, he came slap up against the reality of China’s refusal to pull the coals out of the fire for the US on the North Korean issue.
In groups of people there are always bullies who feel entitled, for no particular reason, to want more than the rest and to dominate the others in complete disregard of the common good. Fortunately for convivial people, bullies tend to have the psychological subtlety of dominant male gorillas who beat loudly on their chests and fight over food and females. Therefore bullies often annihilate each other. The more serious social problems occur when they collaborate to gang up on others.
On Wednesday 12th April 2017 Russia for the eighth time exercised its right to veto a Western proposed Resolution concerning Syria in the UN Security Council. One other country – Bolivia – voted with Russia, and three others – Kazakhstan, China and Ethiopia – abstained.
President Donald Trump walks from the podium after speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday, April 6, 2017, after the U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria. (AP/Alex Brandon)
The US has called its attack on an airbase in Syria “a strong signal” for the Assad regime. Legal experts, however, criticized the action. In an interview with DW, international law expert Stefan Talmon explains why.
DW: Under international law, what are the conditions for a military attack?
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks a meeting in St.Petersburg, Russia. (AP/Dmitri Lovetsky)
With Rex Tillerson on his way to Russia, moments ago Russian president Vladimir Putin shocked reporters when he said that Russia has received intelligence from “trusted sources” that more attacks using chemical weapons are being prepared on the Damascus region, meant to pin the blame on the Assad government.
“I believe that we must absolutely remember these pictures,” said the Bolivian ambassador. “After the invasion there were 1 million deaths and it launched a series of atrocities in that region.” (AP/Mary Altaffer)
On Tuesday 4 April there were reports of children and other civilians killed by chemical poisoning in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Syria. There were contradictory reports, some saying they smelled the gas; others claiming it caused immediate death like odorless sarin.
Ever since President Trump unexpectedly won the US Presidential election on 8th November 2016 he has faced a concerted attempt by his political opponents first to prevent him from being inaugurated as President and – since the inauguration – to remove him from the Presidency through attempts to impeach him.
Wielding an image of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell during his infamous “weapons of mass destruction” speech that helped make the case for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Sacha Llorenti, the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations, blasted the United States for its unilateral military action against Syria saying it is “vital to remember what history teaches us.”
