Latest news with #internationalpeace
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump hosts leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan for peace accord signing
President Trump hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday for the signing of a peace accord he said would bring to an end 35 years of fighting between the two former Soviet republics. 'It's a long time — 35 years they fought, and now they're friends. And they're going to be friends for a long time. But it's a big, beautiful honor to welcome everyone to the White House for this very historic peace summit between Armenia and Azerbaijan,' Trump said while seated between Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. At the center of the trilateral agreement is a call for developing what will be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). The White House said the transit corridor — a long-held desire for Azerbaijan — will cut through Armenia and respect the country's 'sovereignty and territorial integrity and its people.' 'We will turn the page of standoff, confrontation and bloodshed, and provide bright and safe future for our children. So I am very happy, because today we are writing a great new history,' Aliyev said. The U.S. signed separate bilateral deals with Armenia and Azerbaijan that will allow for investments in energy, technology, economic cooperation, border security, infrastructure and trade. Leaders argued it would be a boost for American companies, as well as for the economies of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Trump touted the event as the latest foreign policy success for his administration at a time when his allies are pushing for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan both argued Friday that Trump would be worthy of the Nobel Prize for his efforts.'I think President Trump deserves to have the Nobel Peace Prize. … We will promote for that,' Pashinyan said. Trump president cited his role in easing tensions between India and Pakistan and the Congo and Rwanda, as well as Cambodia and Thailand. However, he has so far been unable to bring an end to the fighting in Ukraine, something he had pledged on the campaign trail to do before even taking office, and fighting has continued in Gaza, leading to a worsening humanitarian crisis. Updated at 4:33 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia says Dodik court ruling threatens Bosnia's unity
By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) -Russia on Thursday said that a Bosnian court ruling banning the separatist Bosnian Serb president from political office for defying orders from the international peace envoy has put Bosnia and Herzegovina's existence as a united country at risk. Bosnia's election commission on Wednesday decided to remove Milorad Dodik from office after an appeals court last week upheld a verdict jailing him for a year and banning him from politics for six years. Dodik is a pro-Russian nationalist with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin who has long advocated secession of the Serb-dominated region from Bosnia and has often acted to block Bosnia's integration into the European Union and NATO. In response to the court ruling, the Russian embassy said the "politicised verdict" was brought under the pressure of Western countries which used law-making agencies to "destroy their opponents". "Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot afford to make a historic mistake," the embassy said in a statement. "Has its reputation of the 'European powder keg' been forgotten...? "Because not only the place of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 'democratic European family' is at stake ... Indeed, the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a united country is at stake," the embassy said. In the U.N. Security Council in 2021, Russia and China blocked the endorsement of Christian Schmidt, a former government minister from Germany, as international High Representative in Bosnia with a mandate to prevent multi-ethnic Bosnia sliding back into civil war. The Bosnian Serb nationalists have never recognised Schmidt as a legal envoy nor respected his decisions. Dodik dismissed his conviction by the court in February. On Wednesday, he announced a referendum on whether he should stay in office and accused Schmidt and Muslims (Bosniaks) of conspiring to bring him down. Russia called on the Bosnian authorities to dismiss the "outside dictate" and work to reduce tensions. "If the situation steps out of control, they will bear the responsibility," the embassy said. "The moment of truth for Bosnia and Herzegovina has come because after this a point of no return may follow." Bosnia is in its worst political crisis since the 1992-95 war, which killed around 100,000 people. The 1995 Dayton peace treaty divided Bosnia into autonomous Serb and Bosniak-Croat federal entities with a weak central government.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Trump's wild power play ahead of Putin meeting
Donald Trump has brokered a peace agreement on Russia's doorstep ahead of a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin on US soil. Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics south of Russia, have been at war since the 1980s. Russia once acted as a broker in their disputes but both countries have since grown distant from Moscow. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev met Trump at the White House on Friday local time, and the US President announced a 20-mile transit corridor named the 'Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity'. The route will allow Azerbaijanis passage through Armenian territory to their country's westernmost region, which is cut off from Azerbaijan proper, a bit like Alaska's separation from the mainland US. 'It's a long time – 35 years – they fought and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time,' Mr Trump said at the signing ceremony. Both leaders said they would nominate Mr Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, a gesture sure to flatter the US President as he attempts to position himself as a global peacemaker during his second term. The deal gives the US exclusive development rights along the new transit route – a sign of Russia's declining sway with its near neighbours. Separate deals were signed with both countries to expand co-operation on energy, trade and technology, and Mr Trump hinted at future defence co-operation between Azerbaijan and the US. It shores up his negotiating position ahead of a planned meeting with Putin next week in Alaska, which was also announced on Friday. 'The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska,' Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Further details to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' It's possible the US will now use its planned involvement in the Armenia transit route as a bargaining chip in its attempts to secure peace in Ukraine. A US-imposed deadline for the Russian president to agree to a ceasefire came and went without an announcement on Friday. If the Alaska showdown on August 15 goes ahead, it will be the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian and American presidents since Joe Biden met with Putin 2021. Mr Trump and Mr Putin have met before, however, at bilateral talks in Helsinki, Finland in 2018. The Russian president has not set foot in the US since 2015, when he attended the UN General Assembly meeting in New York and met then-president Barack Obama.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
President slaps his name on Armenia-Azerbaijan peace passage: The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity
A U.S.-brokered deal to end a decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan will include a new trade and transit corridor named for President Donald Trump, the White House has said. The agreement between the two nations will create a major trade and transit corridor called the 'Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.' It will connect mainland Azerbaijan with the autonomous Nakhchivan region, satisfying a major objective of the Azerbaijani government in the peace talks between the countries. The two European nations have been in conflict for decades. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the deal will create a 'roadmap' that will 'build a cooperative future that benefits both countries, their region of the South Caucasus and beyond' by allowing 'unimpeded connectivity between the two countries while respecting Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and its people.' Trump announced plans for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to visit the White House Friday to sign the peace agreement as well as individual bilateral agreements with the United States to 'pursue Economic opportunities together, so we can fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region.' Writing Thursday on Truth Social, Trump boasted of his role in reaching the agreement between the longtime enemy nations. 'Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to 'TRUMP,'' Trump said. The prospective agreement could potentially put an end to decades of conflict and set the stage for a reopening of key transportation corridors across the South Caucasus that have been shut since the early 1990s. The president is fond of naming things after himself, and has delighted in efforts by members of Congress to rename various Washington landmarks after him and his family members. But in this case, the White House maintains he was not the primary advocate of lending Trumpian eponymity to the new peace corridor. One senior administration official who briefed reporters on the plan said it was Armenian officials who broached the idea. 'It was the Armenians who came and said, 'that's why we're going to call the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.' This isn't just about Armenia. It's not just about Azerbaijan. It's about the entire region, and they know that that region is going to be safer and more prosperous with President Trump,' the official said.
Times of Oman
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Cambodia-Thailand border clashes: UNSC convenes urgent meeting
Phnom Penh: Both Cambodia and Thailand have written to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) following two days of cross-border fighting, local media in both the Southeast Asian countries reported on Saturday. The 15-member UN body has scheduled an emergency meeting for Saturday to discuss the issue. While Thailand says the clashes began on Thursday with Cambodia's military deploying drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the border, Cambodia says Thai soldiers initiated the conflict when they violated a prior agreement. The UNSC said that it will hold an urgent private meeting under the "Threats to international peace and security" agenda item to discuss the clashes following a request from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in response to the border clashes that began on July 24. Both Thailand and Cambodia are expected to participate in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, the UN body said. Cambodia has alleged that Thailand launched "unprovoked, premeditated and deliberate attacks on Cambodian positions along the border areas, including Tamone Thom Temple, Ta Krabey Temple and Mom Bei, in the provinces of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey". It also dismissed Thailand's claims about Cambodia's placing of new landmines, arguing that Thai personnel "had deviated from the patrol routes previously coordinated between the two countries and created a new path through Cambodian territories, known to be officially documented mine-fields". Meanwhile, Thailand has officially submitted a letter to the UNSC, presenting evidence that Cambodia initiated the armed conflict in the latest exchanges of gunfire between the two countries. The country's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said on Friday that Thailand has written to the UNSC to clarify the situation and has firmly rejecting Cambodia's accusation that Thailand had violated its sovereignty "This claim is completely contrary to the facts," the spokesperson said as per the Bangkok Post. Thailand has alleged that the landmines that injured its soldiers on July 16 and July 23 were newly planted. It also maintained that Cambodian soldiers were the first to open fire on July 24, targeting a Thai military base in the Surin Province, after which Cambodia also launched "indiscriminate attacks on Thai territory across four provinces of Buriram, Surin, Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani". Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on July 25 in a Facebook post said that Thailand agreed to a ceasefire with Cambodia, starting from midnight on July 24, following a proposal by Malaysian Prime Minister and ASEAN rotating chair Anwar Ibrahim, according to the Phnom Penh Post. The Cambodian daily cited Hun Manet as saying that "just one hour after the phone conversation with the ASEAN chair, Thailand retracted its position." Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had earlier offered to facilitate talks between the two countries. Thailand has accepted in principle an offer from the ASEAN Chair to mediate the border conflict, but insists Cambodia must first demonstrate a clear commitment to de-escalation according to Thailand's state news broadcaster NBT. The Thai broadcasting agency also said that the Royal Thai Army has completely rejected Cambodian claims that it used F-16 fighter jets to attack civilian areas in Cambodia, calling the reports as "distorted news." More than 130,000 people have reportedly been evacuated from conflict areas in Thailand,, according to its health ministry. The United States, China and Japan have expressed grave concern and urged de-escalation following renewed clashes while France ahs called upon Cambodia and Thailand to immediately stop the clash and solve the dispute through international law. Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in a decades-long disagreement over the jurisdiction of various non-demarcated areas along their shared land border, which stretches more than 800 kilometres. A central part of the dispute has been competing claims of ownership of the ancient Hindu temples of Prasat Ta Muen Thom and Preah Vihear, which are perched on the Dangrek Mountains that form a natural border between Cambodia and Thailand. In 2011, severe clashes between Cambodian and Thai forces in the vicinity of the Preah Vihear temple resulted in at least 16 deaths. This prompted the UN Security Council to meet in a private meeting on February 14 2011 and to issue a press statement on the same day. In late May, a Cambodian soldier was killed in a brief exchange of gunfire with Thai soldiers at a disputed border area, prompting a diplomatic crisis and the reinforcement of military presence along the border by both sides. Tensions further heightened because of two incidents, on July16 and July 23, in which Thai soldiers patrolling along the border were injured by landmines. Five Thai soldiers sustained injuries, one of whom lost a leg. Cambodia and Thailand subsequently recalled their respective ambassadors and closed many border crossings between the countries.
