UKRAINE WILL NOT CONCEDE ANY TERRITORY TO RUSSIA: ZELENSKY
Ukraine will not concede any territory to Russia, including Crimea, the Ukrainian President said, stressing that all areas under Russian control will be returned soon.
Speaking about the situation in Donbas, Volodymyr Zelensky noted that the situation there is extremely difficult. “The Russian military has concentrated all its forces in the eastern part of Ukraine.” He appealed to the West to supply the country with heavier weapons, such as volley fire missile systems, tanks, anti-ship missiles and other weapons. According to Zelensky, the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine is “the best investment in maintaining stability in the world, and preventing many of the serious crises that Russia is still planning or has already provoked.”
TURKEY HAS KEY ROLE FOR NATO: STOLTENBERG
Turkey has a key role for NATO, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Jens Stoltenberg said that today Finland and Sweden will send delegations to Ankara to try to negotiate to change Turkey's objection to the two countries' membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
According to Stoltenberg, the institution is also actively working in that direction. In his speech, the leader of the North Atlantic Alliance called on Moscow to lift the blockade of all Ukrainian ports in Odessa in order to be able to export grain from Ukraine.
IT IS NECESSARY TO FORM A ‘GREEN CORRIDOR’: CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER
At present, it is necessary to create a "green corridor" in the shortest possible time to ensure the export of grain from Russia and Ukraine, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a video conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Wang Yi noted that China has never stepped aside when discussing issues of concern to the international community, and that the issue of grain exports is ready to be discussed with all parties.
BIDEN CALLED TO TAKE MEASURES AGAINST WEAPONS LOBBY
The US President called on the Americans to stand up against the arms lobby, to put pressure on members of Congress to pass reasonable gun laws. Joe Biden reminded that since 2012 there have been more than 900 mass shootings in the United States. Biden made the announcement after a shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed at least 21 people, including 19 children. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the criminal was 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. He acted alone, law enforcement officers managed to kill the criminal. US President Joe Biden has ordered the flags to be lowered in memory of the victims.
AFGHANISTAN AIRPORTS TO BE RUNNED BY UAE
The Taliban is handing over control of the country’s airports to a company based in the United Arab Emirates, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
A memorandum of understanding was signed Tuesday in Kabul “for the control and management of the airports in Afghanistan” by Taliban acting first deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar and Razack Aslam Mohammed Abdur Razack of GAAC Solutions. The agreement covers airports in Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. The deal will only apply to the logistics at the airports and not security, which has been a sticking point in past discussions with potential partners to manage the sites. When Qatari engineering teams were working on the airport they were accompanied by their own private security.
IRANIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER RE-ELECTED
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was elected as the speaker of the Iranian Parliament for the third year in a row. During an open session of the Parliament on Wednesday morning, the MPs voted to choose members of the legislature’s presiding board. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf remained in the post by garnering 194 votes. Ali Nikzad and Abdolreza Mesri were also elected as the vice speakers. The Iranian parliament currently has 290 representatives, changed from the previous 272 seats since the February 18, 2000 election. The last parliamentary polls were held in February 2019. The lawmakers take the seats for a four-year term.
