TOKYO, 12 May 2022, (TON): Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who is on a visit to Japan, discussed issues of the international situation and regional security at the meeting.

Kishida said “now that we are at a historical crossroads, the cohesion of countries like Finland that share common values is required.”

The Prime Minister of Finland confirmed that both countries share common values.

The parties also reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the principle of an open and free Indo-Pacific region.

The leaders of Japan and Finland strongly condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and agreed on the need for a resolute, united response to the unfolding crisis that is threatening the rules-based global order.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida about Finland’s plans to potentially join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a historic move that she said would strengthen the international community that shares universal values.

Kishida said during a joint press briefing with Marin at his office “we see the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region as inseparable and oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force anywhere in the world.”

WASHINGTON, 12 May 2022, (TON): Senior delegations representing the United States and Thailand met on May 9 and 10 for the first joint U.S.-Thailand Strategic and Defense Dialogue. 

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner led the U.S. delegation while Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thani Thongphakdi and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense General Warakiat Rattananont led the Thai delegation.

The Strategic Dialogue and the Defense Strategic Talks have long been integral parts of the enduring U.S.-Thai alliance, and this marked the first year that the participants have integrated these dialogues into a single two-day event. 

This year’s Dialogue addressed a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including regional security, economic recovery and prosperity, health cooperation, democracy and respect for human rights, and efforts to combat the climate crisis. 

Faced with regional and global challenges, the United States and Thailand reaffirmed our longstanding treaty alliance and partnership as a vehicle to jointly tackle shared challenges and achieve mutual goals.

WEST BANK, 12 May 2022, (TON): Qatar-based news channel said “an Al Jazeera reporter was killed by Israeli army gunfire in the occupied West Bank, but the military said she may have been shot by Palestinians as they clashed with its troops.”

One Palestinian official said “Shireen Abu Akleh had been assassinated by Israeli forces while reporting on a raid in the city of Jenin, which has seen intensified army raids in recent weeks as violence has surged.”

The Palestinian health ministry confirmed Abu Akleh’s death and said a second reporter, Ali Samodi, had been wounded.

In a statement, the military said its troops had shot back after coming under massive fire in Jenin and that “there is a possibility, now being looked into, that reporters were hit possibly by shoots fired by Palestinian gunmen.”

Al Jazeera reported that Abu Akleh was hit by a live bullet after which she was rushed to a hospital where the doctors declared her dead.

WASHINGTON, 12 May 2022, (TON): The Bulgarian government said “it had reached an agreement with the US authorities on the supply of liquefied natural gas to the country as early as next month.”

Due to the refusal of Bulgaria and Poland to switch to the scheme of paying for gas in rubles, Gazprom stopped deliveries to these countries on April 27.

The communiqué said after the meeting “Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov met with US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington . “An agreement was reached on deliveries of LNG to Bulgaria starting in June at prices below the current prices of Gazprom.”

On the same day, Petkov had a conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

They discussed partnership opportunities to diversify the energy supply of Bulgaria and the region as a whole, as well as the modernization of the Bulgarian armed forces.

WASHINGTON, 12 May 2022, (TON): The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States at the upcoming summit in the American capital intend to discuss the situation around China and Ukraine.

This was announced on Wednesday by the coordinator for the affairs of the regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House, Kurt Campbell.

“You will see a number of initiatives that will clearly demonstrate the areas in which we want to intensify our engagement with ASEAN “our educational initiatives, the focus on climate issues, some infrastructure projects. I think that we will strive to discuss some relevant modern problems in Asia.”

Campbell said at the Institute for Peace in Washington “we will talk about Myanmar, we will talk about China, we will talk about how events in Ukraine affect the Indo-Pacific region.”

He added “the participants of the summit, which is to be held on May 12-13 in the American capital, w-ill also discuss economic is-sues, creating opportunities for increasing the volume of American investments in the countries of the association.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, the White House spokesman stressed “I think we all recognize that the larger strategic challenges will play out in the Indo-Pacific region. I think there was a feeling in previous [US] administrations that we decided to focus on East Asia or the Indo-Pacific and then ran into other pressing issues that may have distracted us a little.”

LONDON, 12 May 2022, (TON): Elon Musk on said “as owner of Twitter he would lift the ban on Donald Trump, contending that kicking the former US president off the platform alienated a large part of the country.”

Musk’s endorsement of a Trump return to the global messaging platform triggered fears among activists that Musk would open the floodgates of hate.

The billionaire said at a Financial Times conference “I would reverse the permanent ban.”

Trump has stated publicly that he would not come back to Twitter if permitted, opting instead to stick with his own social network, which has failed to gain traction.

The Tesla chief’s $44-billion deal to buy Twitter must still get the backing of shareholders and regulators, but he has voiced enthusiasm for less content moderation and “time-outs” instead of bans.

DUBAI, 12 May 2022, (TON): Omani state media said “Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Oman, a fellow member of the OPEC+ alliance of oil producers, where he met with the Gulf Arab state’s ruling sultan.”

US-allied Gulf states have not taken sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict while urging restraint and diplomacy to end the crisis. Gulf oil producers had also resisted Western calls to pump more oil and help isolate Moscow.

State media reported “Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi told his Russian counterpart that Muscat was committed to OPEC+ output agreements and supported all international efforts to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear pact.”

Indirect US-Iranian talks to revive the pact have stalled.

Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia are the other parties to the accord, which Washington quit in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions, prompting Tehran to gradually breach various nuclear restrictions the deal imposes.

NEW YORK, 12 May 2022, (TON): Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said “the Security Council of the world organization cannot consider the German diplomat Christian Schmidt as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, since his candidacy did not pass the necessary approval.”

Nebenzya said “I would like to make a reservation that we do not consider German citizen Christian Schmidt as High Representative. The UN Security Council did not give appropriate approval for his approval in this position.”

The diplomat noted “we would like to emphasize that the Bosnian problem is on the agenda of the Council within the meaning of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.”

“There is already a quarter-century practice of approving High Representatives. states that consider themselves the guardians of the tradition of jurisprudence and international law.”

NEW YORK, 12 May 2022, (TON): UN Secretary General António Guterres considers it necessary to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the situation in Ukraine.

The General Secretary was asked whether it makes sense for representatives of as many countries as possible to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the situation in Ukraine, or would it be better for Guterres himself to carry out these contacts with the Russian leadership on behalf of the countries.

Guterres said “if you want a problem, you need to deal with those who created it or with those who can solve the problem. So it makes sense to talk to the leader of the Russian Federation. It makes sense to talk to all other relevant parties to this crisis.”

According to him “these contacts play an important role – they help to understand the motivation and goals of the parties.”

NUR-SULTAN, 12 May 2022, (TON): The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development (MIIR) of Kazakhstan said “production of Turkish ANKA reconnaissance and strike drones will be organized in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh national company Kazakhstan Engineering and Turkish Aerospace signed a corresponding memorandum in Ankara.”

According to the documentary agreement “an assembly and maintenance line for ANKA strike unmanned aerial vehicles will be organized in Kazakhstan on the basis of a subsidiary of Kazakhstan Engineering.”

According to a press release “the agreement provides for long-term cooperation in the field of joint production of UAVs, as well as the transfer of technology and training of personnel for the maintenance and repair of UAVs for the armed forces of Kazakhstan.”

Kazakhstan has become the first foreign country to launch production of ANKA drones.