Lavrov, Arab Delegation Discuss Ukraine Crisis

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



Iran Guards Chief Says Netanyahu ICC Warrant 'Political Death' of Israel

Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami - File/AFP
Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami - File/AFP
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Iran Guards Chief Says Netanyahu ICC Warrant 'Political Death' of Israel

Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami - File/AFP
Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami - File/AFP

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Friday described the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former defense minister as the “end and political death” of Israel, in a speech.
“This means the end and political death of the Zionist regime, a regime that today lives in absolute political isolation in the world and its officials can no longer travel to other countries,” Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami said in the speech aired on state TV.
In the first official reaction by Iran, Salami called the ICC warrant “a welcome move” and a “great victory for the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements,” both supported by the Islamic republic, AFP reported.
The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif.
The warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued in response to accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes during Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The ICC’s move theoretically limits the movement of Netanyahu, as any of the court’s 124 national members would be obliged to arrest him on their territory.
The court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan urged the body’s members to act on the warrants, and for non-members to work together in “upholding international law.”