Author: Ani Narcessian

A bilateral meeting between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia was held in Geneva, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs told APA. The meeting was organized in accordance with the task given to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs on drafting the text of the peace treaty as a result of the Brussels meeting of 31 August, 2022, between the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan with the participation of the President of the Council of the European Union Charles…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted maintaining peace in his talks Monday with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in New York, said the State Department. “Blinken hosted Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov for the first direct talks since recent fighting,” spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “Secretary Blinken conveyed condolences for the lives lost and emphasized the need to prevent further hostilities, underscoring the importance of returning to the peace process. They discussed next steps, and the Secretary encouraged the sides to meet again before the end of the month,” said Price.…

Over a thousand people rallied in Port Kembla in Australia’s state of New South Wales on Saturday to protest plans to establish a local base for nuclear submarines at the heart of the AUKUS agreement. Members from the local activist group Wollongong Against War and Nukes (WAWAN) carried a banner that read “No war no nukes.” Union representatives and members of the Australian Labor Party also joined the rally, some other banners read “No to AUKUS,” “No nuclear submarine,” and “No place for a nuclear base.” Event organizers said they are seeking to “send a clear message that (they) don’t…

The United States, Britain and Australia have been pressing ahead with nuclear submarine cooperation despite being widely questioned, which creates nuclear proliferation risks and undermines the international non-proliferation system, the Chinese Embassy in Britain has said. In response to a question concerning the trilateral Australia-UK-U.S. (AUKUS) cooperation on nuclear submarines, the embassy said on Friday that such cooperation will exacerbate the resurgence of the Cold War mentality, trigger a new round of arms race, and further provoke regional security and military confrontation, seriously jeopardizing regional peace, stability and prosperity. The Asia-Pacific is now the most dynamic and fastest growing region…

In September 2021, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia announced a new security partnership called AUKUS. In March 2023, Joint Leaders Statement on AUKUS mentioned that its first major initiative was to support Australia in acquiring conventionally-armed and nuclear-powered submarines, making Australia the seventh member of the exclusive club of nuclear propulsion states. Just as a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said, nuclear submarine cooperation between the three countries involves the transfer of large amounts of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium from nuclear weapon states to a non-nuclear state, which poses a serious risk of nuclear proliferation…

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Thursday expressed concerns over the tripartite AUKUS alliance, a military pact among the United States, Britain and Australia. Under AUKUS, which was formed in September 2021, Australia will be able to build nuclear-powered submarines with technology provided by the other two members. “We are thinking with other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. We also express concern,” Hun Sen said in a speech at the Build Bright University in Phnom Penh. “They claim that there is no nuclear (weapon), but if there is nuclear, how will it be?” he said. “Do…

A group of protestors gathered outside the Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday to demonstrate against a newly-announced nuclear submarine agreement between Australia and its AUKUS partners, the United States and Britain. Members from the local activist group Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition unfurled a banner that read, “No Nuclear Subs.” Another banner read, “AUKUS Steals From Us,” and informed onlookers that the hundreds of billions of Australian dollars splashed on the eight nuclear submarines could have been used to create 320,000 homes, 4,500 schools, and 270,000 jobs for local people. With crowds of people passing by during the afternoon peak hour, the…

A Philippine columnist has said that AUKUS cooperation is negative for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. AUKUS was announced in 2021, under which Washington and London will support Canberra in building nuclear-powered submarines. On Monday, the U.S. President and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom announced that Australia will buy nuclear-powered submarines from the United States.

A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for advancing open, transparent, inclusive and sustainable intergovernmental discussion at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address the proliferation risks posed by the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation. Li Song, China’s permanent representative to the IAEA, said at a meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors that the AUKUS nuclear submarine collaboration poses serious nuclear proliferation risks, undermines the international non-proliferation regime, stimulates arms race, and threatens the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. In September 2021, the United States, Britain and Australia announced the AUKUS deal, under which Washington and London will…

A new round of clashes erupted on Thursday along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border, resulting in at least one soldier dead and four wounded. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported the death of one soldier, while the Armenian Defense Ministry said its four soldiers were wounded during the fresh border clashes. The two sides blamed each other for triggering the new round of clashes, which broke out in the middle of their border. Azerbaijan and Armenia had been locked in a decades-long territorial conflict, with major armed clashes between the two sides breaking out in September 2020 and ending with a Russia-brokered truce…