Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for October 10, 2022
Newsline: German consulate building damaged by Russian missile strike in Kyiv
The building housing a German consulate in Kyiv was hit during Russian missile strikes this morning, 10 October, Germany’s foreign ministry said. “A building in Kyiv, which also houses the German visa office, was damaged by rocket fire this morning… These offices have not been used by our embassy. Our colleagues at the Embassy in Kyiv are well,” officials said. (https://news.yahoo.com/german-consulate-building-damaged-russian-135125452.html) Footage shows the 101 Tower, which houses the visa office of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, damaged from a nearby strike.
Newsline: India declines to disclose upcoming UN vote on Ukraine
Indian foreign affairs minister S Jaishankar has said that the country does not want to share its vote at the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution for condemning Russia’s stance on Ukraine in advance. “As a matter of prudence and policy, we don’t predict our votes in advance,” Mr Jaishankar said during a joint media briefing along with Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra. He added: “We have been very clearly against the conflict in Ukraine. We believe that this conflict does not serve the interests of anybody. Neither the participants nor indeed of the international community.” (https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-war-live-putin-calls-041203114.html) The General Assembly is due to vote on the draft resolution on Tuesday or Wednesday, diplomats said. Russia had vetoed a UN Security Council resolution introduced by the United States and Albania late last month condemning the proclaimed annexation, with China, Gabon, India and Brazil abstaining.
Newsline: Russian ambassador to U.S. to visit “merchant of death” in jail
The Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoli Antonov, announced that he intends to visit Viktor Bout, the arms dealer known as the ‘merchant of death’, who is being held in a U.S. prison, in the coming week. “I would like to talk about this officially for the first time. In a week’s time I plan to visit Viktor. I had already been given permission for this and I hope that no artificial barriers will arise on behalf of the United States,” Antonov has told in an interview to Russia’s Channel One. (https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/russian-ambassador-to-washington-visits-merchant-of-death-viktor-bout-next-week-in-jail/ar-AA12F7OS) In August, Moscow confirmed contacts with Washington regarding the possible exchange of Viktor Bout, convicted in the United States for arms trafficking, with basketball player Brittney Griner, imprisoned in a Russian jail for drug possession and trafficking. The exchange could also include Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen convicted in Russia for espionage. Bout was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2008 after he was caught trying to close an arms deal with undercover agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) posing as guerrillas of the now defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Two years later he was extradited to the United States, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for arms trafficking and attempted murder of U.S. citizens and officials.
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