LONDON, 06 March 2022, (TON): Britain urged its nationals to consider leaving Russia after Moscow’s decision to invade Ukraine.

The British government said in a statement “if your presence in Russia is not essential, we strongly advise that you consider leaving by remaining commercial routes.”

Britain advised its citizens against all travel to Russia due to a lack of available flight options and increased economic volatility.

Russia said “its forces had stopped firing near two Ukrainian cities on Saturday to allow safe passage to civilians fleeing fighting, but was continuing its broad offensive in Ukraine, where the capital Kyiv came under renewed assault.”

The Russian defence ministry said its units had opened humanitarian corridors near the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha which were encircled by its troops.

In Mariupol, citizens would be allowed to leave during a five-hour window, it quoted the city’s officials as saying.

The Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha, and the Red Cross is the ceasefire’s guarantor.

WASHINGTON, 06 March 2022, (TON): Since President Putin launched his unprovoked, unjustified, and unconscionable invasion of Ukraine over a week ago, the international community across continents has spoken with powerful unity to denounce Russia’s aggression and demand its cessation. 

Giving voice and purpose to that common cause requires ready international venues such as the United Nations, where the Russian government and its dwindling supporters cannot impede scrutiny of their actions.

One of President Biden’s early foreign policy priorities was to reestablish American leadership at the United Nations and other international organizations, where our values, security, and prosperity could be protected and advanced. 

The success of that effort can clearly be seen in this week’s remarkable series of multilateral actions.

In the UN Security Council on February 25, the United States and Albania introduced a resolution co-sponsored by an additional 80 UN member states demanding an end to the invasion and making clear that Russia alone bears responsibility for the ongoing violence. 

JERUSALEM, 06 March 2022, (TON): Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

Israel, home to a substantial population of Russian immigrants, has offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though officials have previously played down expectations of a breakthrough.

While Israel, a close ally of the United States, has condemned the Russian invasion, voiced solidarity with Kyiv and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has said it will maintain communications with Moscow in the hope of helping to ease the crisis.

JERUSALEM, 06 March 2022, (TON): Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

Israel, home to a substantial population of Russian immigrants, has offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though officials have previously played down expectations of a breakthrough.

While Israel, a close ally of the United States, has condemned the Russian invasion, voiced solidarity with Kyiv and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has said it will maintain communications with Moscow in the hope of helping to ease the crisis.

WASHINGTON, 06 March 2022, (TON): Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said “the United States should diplomatically recognise Taiwan as a free and sovereign country.”

Pompeo told reporters a Chinese invasion of self-governed Taiwan would depend on “the willingness of the Western world to demonstrate that the costs for Xi Jinping engaging in that kind of activity are just too high.”

Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat by Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the island and vows to seize it one day – by force if necessary. Pompeo, one of former President Donald Trump’s most hawkish advisers on China, had arrived on Wednesday for a visit at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over both Taiwan and the crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing lashed out at Pompeo over his remarks, calling him “a former politician whose credibility has gone bankrupt”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told media “this kind of person’s wild ravings and nonsense will never prevail.”

NEW YORK, 06 March 2022, (TON): The United Nations’ top official in conflict-scarred Libya has offered to mediate between political rivals in a renewed push for long-delayed elections, warning against escalation after a parallel government took office.

Stephanie Williams’ call came a day after the country’s eastern-based parliament swore in a prime minister in a challenge to interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Deibah a move observers fear could tip Libya into a new schism.

Williams, UN chief Antonio Guterres’s special adviser on Libya, warned in a series of tweets that “the solution to Libya’s crisis does not lie in forming rival administrations and perennial transitions”.

She said “she had asked the eastern-based House of Representatives and the High Council of State, an upper house based in Tripoli, to nominate six delegates each to form a joint committee dedicated to developing a consensual constitutional basis.”

According to Williams, once the politicians appoint a committee, it would meet on March 15 under UN auspices for two weeks, to work towards a constitutional framework for elections. Williams also asked Libyans to refrain “from all acts of escalation, intimidation, kidnapping, provocation & violence”.

TEHRAN, 06 March 2022, (TON): Diplomats said “a revived deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions is likely to be reached next week.”

Iran’s foreign minister said he was ready to fly to Vienna to sign the new agreement as negotiators said “they were close to a possible deal.”

 “Leaving Vienna briefly to update ministers on state of play. Ready to return soon.”

Russia’s envoy to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov said: “we will have a deal maybe in the middle of next week.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell “I am ready to go to Vienna when the Western sides accept our remaining red lines.”

The presence of foreign ministers in Vienna and the announcement of a final deal depend on full respect for the red lines set out by Iran, including effective economic guarantees.

WASHINGTON, 06 March 2022, (TON): State Secretary Antony J. Blinken spoke with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi about Moscow’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine.

The Secretary noted the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty.

He underscored that the world is acting in unison to repudiate and respond to the Russian aggression, ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price.

KYIV, 06 March 2022, (TON): Exploding shells blew apart roadsides Saturday and Russian warplanes bombed stretches of the horizon as thousands of Ukrainians scrambled to escape Kyiv’s war-shattered outskirts by any means possible.

The roads on Kyiv’s western edge bear witness to a human tragedy whose scale grows ever greater as Russia’s assault on the Ukrainian capital becomes more determined and indiscriminate.

The Russian forces’ initial assault on Kyiv launched with missile strikes and an airborne assault on an airbase stalled at the end of last week.

The two sides have since been locked in a long-range shelling war along Kyiv’s outskirts that has put working class towns such as Bucha and Irpin in the line of fire.

But people fleeing the two towns said their resolve to stay broke down when Russian warplanes started circling overhead and dropping bombs.

The 58-year-old was one of thousands of people walking with their children and whatever belongings they could carry down a road leading toward central Kyiv and away from the front.

CAIRO, 06 March 2022, (TON): Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the field of digital transformation with the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission.

The memorandum serves to work on cooperation and exchange of experiences in the field of smart cities, frequency spectrum management and human capacity building.

It also includes agreements to coordinate joint events, and to design training programs and workshops.

According to an official Egyptian statement, the signing of the memorandum comes within the framework of strengthening cooperation between the two countries, and attracting investment in Egypt’s telecommunications market.

The memorandum was signed by Hossam El-Gamal, CEO of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority, and Muhammad Al-Tamimi, governor of the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission.