عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Lavrov, Arab Delegation Discuss Ukraine Crisis

Kremlin building in Moscow - File Photo/AFP
Kremlin building in Moscow - File Photo/AFP
TT
20
TT

Lavrov, Arab Delegation Discuss Ukraine Crisis

Kremlin building in Moscow - File Photo/AFP
Kremlin building in Moscow - File Photo/AFP

The Arab League said a delegation of the Contact Group on Ukraine held on Monday talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials to offer mediation between Russia and Ukraine for a solution to the ongoing conflict.

The delegation included Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Iraq, and Sudan.

Their visit is part of the Arab League mission to diffuse tension between Moscow and Kyiv and find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

On Tuesday, the delegation plans to head to Warsaw where it will hold talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, an AL official said.

Arab diplomatic sources confirmed that the Arab ministers’ visit aims to listen to the positions and concerns of the two parties in the light of the latest security and political developments of the Ukrainian crisis.

The sources said that the group should discuss prospects and ways to contribute to efforts for calming down and reducing tension between the two sides and for reaching a political solution.

During the 157th session of the Council of the Arab League meeting held on March 9 in Cairo, participants recommended establishing an Arab Contact Group on Ukraine at the ministerial level to tackle the impact of the crisis on Arab countries.

The Group was also assigned with contacting the concerned parties hoping to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

AL officials and member states maintain contact with both Russia and Ukraine.

Most Viewed

 
World

Al Shabaab Captures Strategic Somalia Town as it Presses Offensive

Vehicles of the Somali special police forces are parked during a handover ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, 14 April 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME
Vehicles of the Somali special police forces are parked during a handover ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, 14 April 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME
TT
20
TT

Al Shabaab Captures Strategic Somalia Town as it Presses Offensive

Vehicles of the Somali special police forces are parked during a handover ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, 14 April 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME
Vehicles of the Somali special police forces are parked during a handover ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, 14 April 2025. EPA/SAID YUSUF WARSAME

Al Shabaab fighters captured a town in central Somalia on Wednesday that government forces had been using as a staging area to drive back an offensive by the militants that has gained ground in recent weeks, residents and soldiers said.
Advances by the al Qaeda affiliate, which included briefly capturing villages within 50 km (30 miles) of Mogadishu last month, have left residents of the capital on edge as rumors swirl that al Shabaab could target the city.
The army has recaptured those villages, but al Shabaab continues to advance in the countryside, leading the government to deploy police officers and prison guards to support the military, soldiers have told Reuters.
Six residents and three soldiers said al Shabaab seized the town of Adan Yabaal, which lies around 245 km (150 miles) north of Mogadishu, in heavy fighting on Wednesday.
"After many hours of fighting we made a tactical retreat," said Aden Ismail, a military officer who transported injured soldiers to the nearby Hiiraan region.
The army and allied clan militias have been using Adan Yabaal as an operating base for raids against al Shabaab.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who hails from the area, visited the town last month to meet with military commanders there about sending reinforcements.
"If al Shabaab captures one town, that does not mean they overpowered us," Mohamud said in a speech on Wednesday, without directly naming the town. "There is a big difference between a war and a battle."
Al Shabaab said in a statement that its forces had overrun 10 military installations during Wednesday's fighting.
"After early morning prayers, we heard a deafening explosion, then gunfire," Fatuma Nur, a mother of four, told Reuters by telephone from Adan Yabaal. "Al Shabaab attacked us from two directions."
National government officials were either not reachable or did not respond to requests for comment.
The fighting comes as the future of international security support to Somalia has grown increasingly precarious.
A new African Union peacekeeping mission replaced a larger force at the start of the year, but its funding is uncertain, with the United States opposed to a plan to transition to a UN financing model.