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The organization, CSTO, is a Russian-led security alliance that includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan “Radicals from Central Asia have accounted for a notable share of recent Islamic State-inspired or -directed plots and attacks in the United States, Europe, Turkey, and Iran,” Lucas Webber and Riccardo Valle wrote in a Hudson Institute analysis last year. In September 2022, ISKP – which vehemently opposes Russia’s support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria – claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul which left six dead. Despite repeatedly warnings from foreign sources – including the U.S....

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The leader of Armenia on Wednesday declared his intention to pull out of a Russia-dominated security alliance of several ex-Soviet nations as tensions rise between the two allies. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government will decide later when to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a grouping that includes Russia and the former Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Amid the widening rift with Russia, Armenia earlier froze its participation in the alliance, canceled its involvement in joint military drills and snubbed CSTO summits. Pashinyan said Wednesday for the...

A Russian-dominated security grouping held a summit in Belarus on Thursday with the absence of one of its members, Armenia, which has been irked by what it sees as a lack of support over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Speaking at the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed what he called the group’s role in securing peace and stability in the region. But in a sign of the widening rift between Russia and Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan snubbed the summit in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, citing his government’s dissatisfaction with the organization....

‘People feel let down by Russia’: disputed Caucasus enclave choked by blockade: Warnings of humanitarian catastrophe in mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh, a region claimed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, now Russia is no longer capable of intervening Armenia sent a convoy of 19 trucks carrying humanitarian aid for the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh last month. But the convoy was stopped at an Azeri checkpoint and has remained there for more than two weeks. Nina, a 23-year-old village schoolteacher, goes from store to store every morning searching for food in the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where she and her parents have been trapped for...

Japan was the first country to break its silence after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Tokyo said of the Kuril Islands that it was “completely unacceptable that the Northern Territories have yet to be returned since the Soviet Union’s illegal occupation of them 77 years ago”. That annexation saw the expulsion of Japanese people from the southern islands, and since then, the countries have failed to reach a compromise. Talks broke down when Putin showed he was not willing to share lands but only to gain new ones. Then China started drawing maps marking part of Siberia and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has his own version of the NATO military alliance, made up of post-Soviet states. But the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which was never as powerful or cohesive as Russia would have liked, has been increasingly creaking since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, experts told Insider. Some of its members have made unprecedented public snubs against Putin, and experts say they're conscious of Russia's poor military performance over the past year, with questions over how well Russia could protect them. Some may even fear becoming Russian targets. (snip) As Putin has become more isolated since the...

The Air Force last week successfully tested a hypersonic AGM-183A missile off the coast of southern California -- striking a target after reaching more than five times the speed of sound -- in a sign that U.S. weapons are catching up to similar Chinese and Russian capabilities.

Dec 12, 2022 Russian leader Vladimir Putin made the biggest mistake of his life by invading Ukraine! Reactions against Putin's rule in Russia are growing every day! Soldiers in the Russian army have also started to revolt. Russia is experiencing the most chaotic period in its history! Experts say Russia is in grave danger! So how did the process turn out like this? How is Putin, who wanted to bring about the end of Ukraine, bringing about the end of Russia? What danger is Russia in? Let's answer these questions one by one! First of all, we need to rewind...

NATO's head said earlier this month that Russia may want the fighting to slow, seeking a "freeze" in the fighting so it can better prepare for a bigger assault next year. "What we see now is Russia is actually trying to have some kind of 'freeze' of this war at least for a short period of time so they can regroup, repair, recover," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "And then try to launch a bigger offensive next spring." The UK Ministry of Defence predicted on Monday that Russian forces will not see any big gains over the winter, even...

According To UN Report, Afghan Taliban Continues To Sponsor Al-Qaeda And Other Foreign Jihadi Organizations Such As Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), And East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM); French Justice Inbox MEMRI memri@memri.org via mta-bbcspool.convio.net 3:10 PM (13 minutes ago) to me Having trouble with this message? View it online. memri_CUBEd Arabic1.jpg The Middle East Media Research Institute Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter YouTube vimeo image.JPG vimeo image.JPG TikTok icon.png The MEMRI Daily: June 17, 2022 According To UN Report, Afghan Taliban Continues To Sponsor Al-Qaeda And Other Foreign Jihadi Organizations Such As Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan...

Vladimir Putin had been due to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month. However, in a sign of growing Russian isolation on the world stage, an Indian government source said the meeting has now been abruptly cancelled. The move to cancel the annual face-to-face meeting was taken after veiled threats by Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war, according to Bloomberg News. Indian and Russian leaders have held face-to-face meetings every year for the past 21 years - except for 2020 due to Covid. An Indian official told Bloomberg that a meeting with President...

Belarusian authorities are once again claiming that their country is under the threat of an attack. Often, declarations of this kind end with an attack indeed taking place, but from the territory of Belarus instead. “The assessment has shown that the West is working on attack plans that directly consider Belarus and Russia to be the enemy,” Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin claimed. The politician also lamented the unprecedented increasing presence of the US and NATO military formations in Eastern Europe. Novaya-Europe takes a closer look at who would be able to attack whom in the area. Suicide planAt the...

The Biden administration on Monday notified Congress it has approved a possible $323 million arms sale to Finland as the country seeks to join NATO. The administration approved the potential sale of 40 tactical missiles and 48 Joint Standoff Weapons, made by Raytheon, in addition to accompanying equipment, training and support, the State Department said in a release. Finland, which shares a border with Russia, is in the process of joining NATO along with Sweden. Both countries sought to enter the alliance earlier this year. This State Department said the proposed sale “will support the foreign policy and national security...

THIS is the moment Vladimir Putin's feet appeared to twitch and spasm during a meeting in a possible sign of Parkinson's disease. The Russian president, 70, who is reportedly "critically ill", met with Kazakhstan president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 69, on Monday. During the tense talks in Moscow, Putin's feet twitched and spasmed - a symptom of Parkinson's disease. Footage showed his legs jolting and his feet tapping as he spoke to the cameras about the "special significance" of the meeting. He was also seen gripping his right arm with his left hand throughout the talks - months after he was pictured...

Belarus's foreign minister Vladimir Makei was poisoned in a Kremlin sting operation, extraordinary new reports have claimed. The veteran diplomat and former spy died suddenly yesterday amid claims he was in secret contact with the West concerning the war in Ukraine and preventing Belarus from being incorporated into Russia by Vladimir Putin. A video shows Makei, 64, looking healthy on a Belarus military cargo plane last week shortly before he died. He wasn't known to suffer from any chronic illness. -snip- Makei was this week due to attend an Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Poland...

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has postponed a planned visit to Minsk following the death of his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei, according to Russian media reports quoting the foreign ministry. Belarus's state news agency Belta reported on Saturday that the long-standing foreign minister and associate of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko had died suddenly. The cause of death wasn't given and Makei wasn't known to suffer from any chronic illness. Makei, 64, was due to meet Lavrov on Monday. Last week he attended a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- a military alliance of several post soviet states...

Black Friday early deals Lukashenko sparks health scare as Putin ally struggles to disembark private jumbo jet Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko struggled down aircraft stairs on landing in Armenia for a summit with Vladimir Putin. By TIM MCNULTY 10:12, Thu, Nov 24, 2022 | UPDATED: 10:12, Thu, Nov 24, 2022 5 Alexander Lukashenko struggles to disembark private jet Enter your email address here SUBSCRIBE We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at...

Russia's president was snubbed three times by his supposed ally on Thursday when he met with some of his country's closest partners at an international summit. Vladimir Putin met with leaders from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-dominated alliance of post-Soviet nations. But the supposedly friendly forum proved hard going for Putin, who was slighted multiple times by the prime minister of Armenia in protest at its ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan. Nikol Pashinyan used his speech at the start of the summit — held in Yerevan, Armenia's capital — to criticize the effectiveness of the alliance, where Russia...

Russia's decision to pull its forces back from the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson was "positive and important," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. "Russia's decision regarding Kherson is positive, an important decision," told reporters in the capital Ankara on Thursday before leaving for a summit of Turkic countries in Uzbekistan. Vowing to maintain dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Erdogan's comments came after Moscow ordered its troops on Wednesday to withdraw from Kherson to the east bank of the Dnieper River. "I don't know whether there will be Russian participation in the G20 or not. We'll have...

Kazakh authorities have not openly supported Russia’s invasion and are making moves that could, at least to a certain extent, distance Nur-Sultan from the Kremlin. Ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine, Kazakhstan has tried to cling to a neutral stance. Although Nur-Sultan is a member of the Moscow-led Eurasian Union, as well as its Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the energy-rich Central Asian nation has supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and openly stressed that it does not intend to recognize the Russia-backed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. On the other hand, Kazakhstan did not...