
Russia becomes first country to recognize Taliban government of Afghanistan
'We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,' the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Dutch intelligence services say Russia has stepped up use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine
Two Dutch intelligence agencies said on Friday that Russia is increasing its use of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the World War I–era poison gas chloropicrin. The Netherlands military intelligence and the security service, together with the German intelligence service, found that the use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russian military had become standardized and commonplace in Ukraine. According to the findings, the Russian military uses chloropicrin and riot control agent CS against sheltering Ukrainian soldiers, who are then forced out into the open and shot. Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for more sanctions against Moscow and continued military support for Kyiv. Brekelmans, who stayed on in a caretaker role after the Dutch government collapsed last month, said that he doesn't want to see the use of chemical weapons become normalized. 'Lowering the threshold for use is not only dangerous for Ukraine but also for the rest of Europe and the world,' he said in a statement. Russia has signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the use of chloropicrin and CS as weapons. The convention's watchdog, The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, has found several incidents in Ukraine involving CS, but the group hasn't conducted a full investigation, which must be requested by the member states. The executive committee for the OPCW is holding a regular meeting next week where it's expected to discuss the conflict in Ukraine. Russian authorities didn't immediately comment on the findings, but they have denied using chemical weapons in the past, instead alleging that Ukraine has used the banned substances. According to Ukraine, Russia has carried out 9,000 chemical weapons attacks in the country since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. In 2024, the US State Department said that it had recorded the use of chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.


Saudi Gazette
4 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Germany seeks agreement with Taliban to take back convicted Afghan migrants
BERLIN — Germany wants to negotiate a direct agreement with the Taliban to take back Afghan nationals set for deportation, according to Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. "My idea is that we make agreements directly with Afghanistan to enable repatriations," said in an interview on Thursday with the weekly news magazine, Focus. "We still need third parties to conduct talks with Afghanistan. This cannot remain a permanent solution." In August, Germany resumed flying convicted Afghan nationals back to Afghanistan after suspending deportations after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Berlin said those flights were facilitated with the support of "key regional partners". But now, Germany wants to do this directly in cooperation with the Taliban in Kabul. In the Thursday interview, Dobrindt said Berlin is also in contact with Damascus in a bid to reach an agreement on the deportation of Syrian migrants convicted of crimes in Germany. Dobrindt represents the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Merz has pledged to deport people to Syria and Afghanistan, as well as stop refugee admission programmes for former local staff of German agencies in the latter. The admission programmes were set up after the Taliban takeover was said to be a direct threat to their lives due to possible retaliation. Migration was a key issue as Germans headed to the polls to vote in February's snap federal elections following the rise of the far right and several high-profile attacks by migrants. Syrians and Afghans make up the two largest groups of asylum seekers in Germany, with 76,765 Syrians and 34,149 Afghans applying for asylum last year, according to official figures. On Friday, the United Nations criticised plans to strike a deal with the Taliban to return migrants to Afghanistan. Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office, told reporters in Geneva it was "not appropriate to return people to Afghanistan." "We have been documenting continuing human rights violations in Afghanistan," she said, highlighting severe restrictions on women's rights and executions. Arafat Jamal of the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) in Kabul said his organisation still had a "non-return advisory" in place for Afghanistan. "In other words ... the conditions on the ground are not yet ready for returns," he said. "We urge countries not to forcibly return to Afghanistan." Germany does not recognise the Taliban government since its takeover in 2021 after NATO troops withdrew from the country and maintains no official diplomatic ties with Kabul. On Friday, Russia became the first country in the world to formally recognise the Taliban government and establish full diplomatic links with Kabul. Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi stated that he hoped the move would serve as an example to other countries, but it was criticised by opposition figures and human rights groups. — Euronews


Asharq Al-Awsat
4 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi, Russian FMs Discuss Relations and Regional Developments
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met on Friday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, during an official visit to Moscow. The two officials reviewed the historical friendship and cooperation between their countries and peoples, and explored ways to further strengthen and develop these ties across various fields. The two sides held an official session of talks, during which they underscored the profound depth of relations between the Kingdom and Russia, in addition to addressing key developments in the region.