Clashes in Syria / Expulsion of ambassadors from Russia
1 Syria The Deputy Head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria, Rear-Admiral Alexander Karpov, said that the center achieved a ceasefire in the city of Qamishli, in Hasakah province, where a conflict between the Arab and Kurdish populations took place. Now the situation has stabilized. The street fighting between the Kurds and the ’National Defense Forces’, which are fighting on the side of the Syrian army, started on 20th of April. The local media reported that after the end of the fighting, the refugees began to return to the city. Both sides had casualties. Their number wasn’t reported. Several civilians were injured as well. 2 Syria - The USA The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Vershinin, stated at the UN Security Council debate that the one-sided sanctions against Syria harm only the common Syrian population. He added that "the restrictions do not prevent the Americans, who took the local oil fields and agricultural lands across the Euphrates River, from smuggling and doing illegal trade in oil and grain". Sergei Vershinin added that "the sanctions against Syria are intensifying, even despite the call by the UN Secretary General to ease the restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic." 3 The USA - Afghanistan The head of the US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, announced that the USA are looking for the possibility of remotely providing the security consultations to Afghanistan. The USA do not intend to leave the military in Afghanistan for this purpose. The US Central Command announced on Twitter that Washington is deploying multiple launch rocket systems ’HIMARS’, from Kuwait to Afghanistan, in order to ensure the safety of the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan. 4 The USA - Iran The ’Reuters’ reported that a US Navy patrol ship fired several warning shots when 3 ships, supposedly belonging to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, approached it in the Persian Gulf. The ’Reuters’ quoted the US military. It was reported that after the warning shots - the Iranian ships retreated to a safe distance from the US ships. Before the incident became known, a Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, announced that the USA want to de-escalate the maritime tensions with Iran. 5 Yemen - Saudi Arabia The Yemeni rebel movement ’Ansar Allah’ has launched a new air-strike against Saudi Arabia - the spokesman of ’Ansar Allah’, brigadier-general Yahya Saria, announced on Twitter. He explained that the actions of the rebels are "a response to the escalation of aggression, and the total siege of the Yemeni people". 6 Russia The ambassadors of the Baltic countries and Slovakia were called to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The details of the meeting were not disclosed. The Latvian Ambassador to Moscow stated while leaving the department that the meeting was held in a professional manner. After the meeting the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of 2 employees of the Lithuanian embassy, and 1 representative each from the embassies of Latvia and Estonia. Russia declared 3 employees of the Slovak Embassy in Moscow to be ’persona non grata’. Earlier those countries expressed a solidarity with the Czech Republic, and expelled Russian diplomats under a far-fetched pretext by accusing them of activities, incompatible with the diplomatic status. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.
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