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Kremlin Dismisses Armenian PM's Suggestion that Russia is Quitting South Caucasus

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Kremlin Dismisses Armenian PM's Suggestion that Russia is Quitting South Caucasus

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected a suggestion by Armenia's prime minister that Russia had failed to protect Armenia amid its standoff with neighboring Azerbaijan, and was winding down its role in the wider region.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Sunday, Nikol Pashinyan accused Russia of failing to ensure Armenia's security in the face of what he said was aggression from Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Pashinyan also said Armenia felt Russia was pulling back from the wider South Caucasus region, which includes his country, Reuters reported.
"...we see that Russia, thanks to a number of steps it is taking or failing to take, is itself leaving the region. We could just wake up one day and see that Russia is not here," he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Russia, which has a military base in Armenia and has sent peacekeepers to uphold a ceasefire deal, planned to continue playing an important role in stabilizing the South Caucasus and had no plans to wind down its activities there.
Pashinyan had also suggested that Moscow did not regard his country as sufficiently pro-Russian and was unable to meet all of Armenia's security needs, even if it wanted to, because of its own requirements for the war in Ukraine.
"We cannot agree with these theses," Peskov said. "Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region .. Russia plays a consistent, very important role in stabilizing the situation in this region .. and we will continue to play this role."
Nagorno-Karabakh, a source of tension between Yerevan and Baku for decades, is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but its 120,000 inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians.
It broke away from Baku's control in a war in the early 1990s, although Azerbaijan recovered control of some areas in heavy fighting in 2020, when Russia brokered a ceasefire.
Peskov said it was important for all sides to adhere to the terms of that deal, even if there had been strains and changes in the situation since.
"Russia continues to play the role of guarantor of security," he said. "Russia is not going anywhere and is not planning to leave."

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World

France's Macron: Unity between Europe and US on Ukraine is ‘Essential'

French President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP file)
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France's Macron: Unity between Europe and US on Ukraine is ‘Essential'

French President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP file)

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that unity between Europe and the United States was key in the support of Ukraine, adding there is "no mistrust" and denying a report he had said there was a risk Washington could betray Ukraine.

"Unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I say it again and again, we need to work together," Macron told reporters during a visit to China.

"We welcome and support the peace efforts being made by the United States of America. The United States of America needs Europeans to lead these peace efforts," he added.

German magazine Spiegel on Thursday cited a transcript of a confidential call showing the French President and German Chancellor have voiced severe skepticism about efforts by the US government and its envoys to negotiate a peace between Ukraine and Russia.

"I deny everything," Macron said, when asked about the Spiegel report. "We need the United States for peace. The United States need us for this peace to be lasting and robust."

"So there's no scenario where a lasting peace in Ukraine is done without joint efforts between the Europeans, the Americans, the Canadians, the Australians and the Japanese," he said.

World

Greek Parliament Approves Purchase of Rocket Systems from Israel

A PULS multiple rocket launcher miniature and artillery rockets by Israeli Elbit Systems is exhibited at the DEFEA Defense Exhibition, in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi Purchase Licensing Rights
A PULS multiple rocket launcher miniature and artillery rockets by Israeli Elbit Systems is exhibited at the DEFEA Defense Exhibition, in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi Purchase Licensing Rights
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Greek Parliament Approves Purchase of Rocket Systems from Israel

A PULS multiple rocket launcher miniature and artillery rockets by Israeli Elbit Systems is exhibited at the DEFEA Defense Exhibition, in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi Purchase Licensing Rights
A PULS multiple rocket launcher miniature and artillery rockets by Israeli Elbit Systems is exhibited at the DEFEA Defense Exhibition, in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi Purchase Licensing Rights

Greek lawmakers approved late on Thursday the purchase of 36 PULS rocket artillery systems from Israel for about 650 million euros ($757.84 million), two officials with knowledge of the issue told Reuters.

Greece has said it will spend about 28 billion euros ($32.66 billion) by 2036 to modernize its armed forces as it emerges from a 2009-2018 debt crisis and tries to keep pace with its historic rival Türkiye.

"In a closed session, the parliament's defense committee approved the purchase of PULS," a senior official with knowledge of the issue told Reuters. A second official confirmed the parliament's approval, adding that the cost would be around 650 to 700 million euros. Reuters reported in November that Greece was in talks with Israel for the systems.

Greece and Israel have strong economic and diplomatic ties, have conducted several joint exercises in recent years, and operate an air training center in southern Greece.

Greece is also in talks with Israel to develop a 3 billion euro anti-aircraft and missile defense dome.

The PULS system, made by Israel's Elbit, has a range of up to 300 km (190 miles) and will help protect Greece's northeastern border with Türkiye and Greek islands in the Aegean, officials have said. The deal also includes the construction of components in Greece.

Greece and Türkiye, NATO allies, have long been at odds over issues including where their continental shelves start and end, energy resources, flights over the Aegean, and the ethnically partitioned island of Cyprus.

World

Flooding Kills Two as Vietnam Hit by Dozens of Landslides

Deadly flooding inundated thousands of homes in Vietnam's Lam Dong province in what authorities say is a record-breaking year of natural disasters. Quoc Nguyen / AFP
Deadly flooding inundated thousands of homes in Vietnam's Lam Dong province in what authorities say is a record-breaking year of natural disasters. Quoc Nguyen / AFP
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Flooding Kills Two as Vietnam Hit by Dozens of Landslides

Deadly flooding inundated thousands of homes in Vietnam's Lam Dong province in what authorities say is a record-breaking year of natural disasters. Quoc Nguyen / AFP
Deadly flooding inundated thousands of homes in Vietnam's Lam Dong province in what authorities say is a record-breaking year of natural disasters. Quoc Nguyen / AFP

Heavy rain in Vietnam triggered flooding that killed at least two people and caused more than a dozen landslides, state media said Friday, adding to what authorities called the "most unusual" year of natural disasters in the country's history.

South-central Vietnam has been lashed by weeks of heavy rain, submerging hundreds of thousands of homes in coastal tourism hotspots and causing deadly landslides in mountainous regions.

Downpours inundated thousands more homes in Lam Dong province on Thursday and killed at least two people, the Voice of Vietnam news outlet reported.

It added that 16 landslides struck the province, damaging roads and bridges and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

Floodwaters up to two meters deep were still sloshing through Ham Thang commune in Lam Dong on Friday, resident Pham Thi Ngoc Yen told AFP, adding authorities were delivering food and water by boat.

"Our province has always been very safe from floods or typhoons. This year was so weird," she said.

"I hope that the water will recede a lot in the next two days so that our life can get back to normal."

Record year

"2025 has been the year with the most unusual natural disasters in history," Hoang Duc Cuong, deputy director of the environment ministry's meteorology and hydrology department, said in a statement Friday.

A total of 21 storms, including 15 typhoons and 6 tropical depressions, have affected Vietnam this year, the highest number since records began in 1961, according to the environment ministry's statement.

Vietnam is in one of the most active tropical cyclone regions on Earth, but in a typical year it is affected by around 10 typhoons or storms.

The country has also experienced extreme rainfall and widespread flooding this year, with rivers setting new high-water marks from the northern regions through central and down to the lower Mekong Delta.

"Never before have such exceptionally large and historical floods occurred simultaneously in one year on 20 rivers," the environment ministry said.

One area of central Vietnam recorded up to 1,739 millimeters (5.7 feet) of rain in just 24 hours.

Elsewhere in Asia, devastating floods in recent days have killed more than 1,500 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across four countries, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In Vietnam, natural disasters have left more than 400 people dead or missing this year and caused more than $3.6 billion in damage, according to the ministry.

The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientists have identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive.