Russian, Turkish Foreign Ministers Discuss Ukraine, Grain Deal in Phone Call

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Public Diplomacy Center in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Public Diplomacy Center in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP)
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Russian, Turkish Foreign Ministers Discuss Ukraine, Grain Deal in Phone Call

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Public Diplomacy Center in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Public Diplomacy Center in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP)

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain deal in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Sunday, Russia's foreign ministry said.

Moscow has been threatening to quit the deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertilizer from Ukrainian ports because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertilizer have not been met. The deal expires on July 17.

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was pressing Russia to extend the deal, brokered last year by Ankara and the United Nations, by at least three months.



Rescuers Say a Blast at a Building Storing Explosives in Myanmar Has Killed more than 45 People

Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
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Rescuers Say a Blast at a Building Storing Explosives in Myanmar Has Killed more than 45 People

Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Police stand guard as they wait for protests against coup in Yangon, Myanmar February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

A blast on Sunday at a building in northeastern Myanmar said to have been storing explosives for mining has killed more than 45 people, according to rescue workers and independent media reports.

About 70 other people were injured in the explosion that took place around noon in the village of Kaungtup, in Namhkam township.

The area, located about 3 kilometers (2 miles) south of the Chinese border, is under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed group fighting Myanmar’s central government.

A rescue worker who rushed to the site of the blast told The Associated Press that 46 bodies, including six children, had been recovered by Sunday evening and taken for cremation.

The rescuer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said 74 wounded people had been transported to the township hospital and rescue operations were continuing.

Another rescuer in Namhkam, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 40 people were killed and more than 100 houses near the blast site were damaged.


Iran's Top Negotiator: No US Deal Without Tangible Results

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)
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Iran's Top Negotiator: No US Deal Without Tangible Results

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, right, shakes hands with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 23, 2026. (Hamed Malekpour/ICANA via AP)

Iran will not accept any agreement ending its conflict with the US unless there is certainty that the Iranian people's rights ⁠are secured, top negotiator ⁠Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday according to state media.

"There ⁠is no trust in the enemy's words and promises. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results before we fulfill our commitments in ⁠return," ⁠he added after taking an oath as the re-elected speaker of parliament alongside its presidium.

Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.


Ukraine Says it Received New IRIS-T Launcher from Germany

FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
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Ukraine Says it Received New IRIS-T Launcher from Germany

FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
FILED - 26 May 2023, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ueberlingen: An Iris-T missile defense system stands on the premises of Diehl Defense in Ueberlingen. Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa

Ukraine received a new Iris-T air defense launcher from Germany on Saturday, President Volodymyr ⁠Zelenskiy said on ⁠Sunday, asking for more ⁠provision of air defense ammunition.

"We also need missiles for air defense systems to have sufficient capabilities ⁠to ⁠repel Russian attacks," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

On Sunday, Ukraine's military said it had struck Russia's Saratov oil refinery overnight, causing ⁠a large fire ⁠to break out at ⁠the facility.

The military said in a post on Telegram that it had also hit the ⁠Lazarevo ⁠oil pumping station in Russia's Kirov region.