Vedant Patel
Washington D.C./22.03.23/Turan: The State Department on Tuesday made it clear that "It cannot be business as usual" with Russia ahead of its rotating UN Security Council presidency next week, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"And quite candidly... we know that the countries that make up the UN membership agree," Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing in response to TURAN's questions.
He went on to explain: "As recently as just a number of weeks ago, you saw more than 140 countries speak in unison about how the Russian Federation needed to respect territorial integrity, respect sovereignty, and withdraw its forces from Ukraine."
TURAN's correspondent also asked Patel about Russia's plans to hold an informal meeting of the UNSC next month on what it said is “the real situation” of Ukrainian children taken to Russia, an issue that has gained the spotlight following the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes related to their abduction.
"We know the truth about what’s happening to Ukrainian children," Patel said, adding: "We don’t need the Russian Federation to tell us,"
He continued: "Our colleagues at Yale University and the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations have shown immense leadership in unearthing the horrific truths of what is happening to Ukrainian children."
He went on to conclude, "We are seeing numerous reports of children being separated from their families, being sent to facilities all across Russia.. Ukrainian children being forced to be adopted by Russian families. We know what’s happening to Ukrainian children."
Alex Raufoglu
Politics
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The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD), a joint program of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has called for the urgent release of activist Rufat Safarov from prison in Azerbaijan. It has launched a campaign in support of the Azerbaijani human rights defender. https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/arbitrary-detention-and-judicial-harassment-against-rufat-safarov
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This year, the laureate of the annual Nargiz Prize, awarded for efforts in the fight for democracy, was Akif Gurbanov, chairman of the board of the Resplatforma (Platform of the III Republic) movement, who is under arrest.
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The U.S. will prohibit the issuing of visas for nearly a dozen more individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia, bringing the total number to over 100, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has expressed condolences to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following the tragic incident in the city of Magdeburg. "We are deeply shocked by the news of the deaths and injuries resulting from the tragic incident that took place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg," the message reads.
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