Chinese delegation in Baku, Gaza Tomorrow Plan and unsanitary Seine unsuitable for Olympics Weekly Review by Caliber.Az

Caliber.Az has prepared another episode of the “Events” show with Azerbaijani political analyst Murad Abiyev about the main news of the week related to Azerbaijan and other countries.

AZERBAIJAN – ARMENIA

A meeting of Azerbaijani and Chinese experts in military education was held in Baku at the National Defence University.

The Chinese delegation was represented by specialists from the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China. During the meeting, the current situation and prospects for the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and China in military education were discussed.

Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and China is of particular importance given the Joint Declaratıon of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the People’s Republic of China on the establishment of a strategic partnership recently signed by the leaders of the two countries and the provisions it contains on cooperation in security.

According to the declaration, the sides will support each other’s efforts in resolving issues of ensuring the security and uninterrupted operation of international transport corridors passing through their territories, and will create favourable conditions for transit traffic within the national legislation and bilateral agreements.

The military cooperation between China and Azerbaijan seems inevitable and will strengthen amid instability in the global political system and big competition for global trade routes.

Meanwhile, Yerevan continues establishing relations with the West. The foreign ministers of the EU member states decided to begin negotiations with Armenia on the abolition of the visa regime, as well as on the military assistance to Armenia from the European Peace Facility in the amount of 10 million euros. The joint military exercises with the US ended in Armenia on July 24.

Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has said at a briefing that Russia is ready to provide its platform for negotiations between the parties in the bilateral format.

“Azerbaijan has always been ready for negotiations with Armenia in Russia and at other venues,” Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada said by commenting on Moscow’s readiness to organise a meeting of the parties.

Armenia is still silent on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. Overall, the peace process has stalled. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev noted at the media forum in Shusha that progress requires Armenian actions on two issues.

Firstly, it is necessary to submit a joint appeal with Azerbaijan to the OSCE for the de jure dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, and secondly, to remove the clause containing territorial claims against Azerbaijan from the Armenian constitution.

By delaying the process, Yerevan is aggravating its position as a regional pariah.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan showed a gesture of goodwill and sent an official invitation to Armenia to the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be held in Baku on November 11-22. In response, the Armenian authorities reported that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would touch upon this issue at a press conference in August.

UKRAINE - RUSSIA

The outgoing week was marked by a more significant, relative to the previous period, advance of the Russian army, in particular in the most important direction, Pokrovsk.

The Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka route of strategic importance is in danger, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are intensively defend this section of the front.

Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, gave an interview to The Guardian, in which he expressed optimism about the expected outcome of the war in a restrained manner.

Syrsky mysteriously stated that he knew what to do to win. Despite this, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces admitted that Russia is much better provided with resources than Ukraine, and has a great advantage in both manpower and equipment.

Moreover, he noted the exceptional role of kamikaze drones for striking deep into Russian territory, as well as naval drones successfully fighting in the Black Sea, once again indicating a preference for asymmetric methods of war.

However, former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi delivered a speech in London, where he tried to convince Western audience that Russia is a common threat. Zaluzhnyi also called on Western countries to prepare for the mobilization of all forces, as well as to use the military experience of Ukraine.

The speeches of the two commanders-in-chief together give the impression of some activity aimed at strengthening asymmetric methods of warfare with an attempt to more actively involve the West.

Perhaps, amid the threat of a failure in a trench war, in which Ukraine lacks resources, Kyiv is trying to convince the West to provide it with high-tech weapons. The question is whether the West is ready for this.

ISRAEL

The Israeli army continues neutralising the fighters in the Gaza Strip. The hostilities are being intensively held in Khan Younis. Negotiations on a possible deal are underway in Qatar.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the US, where he addressed Congress and also met with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. There are rumours that the main topic of negotiations is Tel Aviv receiving carte blanche for a ground operation against Hezbollah, as the situation in northern Israel is still tense.

In Washington, Netanyahu also presented a plan of a post-war reconstruction plan for Gaza.According to the plan, after the defeat of Hamas, a new Gaza may emerge - demilitarized and deradicalized.

Netanyahu said that Israel "does not seek to settle Gaza" but must maintain overall security control for the foreseeable future to ensure that Gaza never poses a threat to it again. He said that Gaza should have a civilian administration led by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel.

Four Arab countries, namely, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, also voiced their “Gaza Tomorrow Plan”. Proceeding from the media reports, the matter rests in the transfer of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, which currently partially controls the West Bank.

According to the plan, the forces from four countries will be present in the Gaza Strip. If this proposal is consonant with Netanyahu’s position, then Beijing came out with an unexpected maneuver in counterbalance.

Representatives of 14 Palestinian movements and groups, including Fatah and Hamas, following negotiations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, signed a joint declaration in Beijing on ending disagreements and building “Palestinian unity”.

As we see, China is trying to seize the initiative from the West in the Middle East to promote its configuration of peace in this region.

US

President Biden issued a statement saying that in the interests of his party and country, he should step away from the election campaign and focus on his presidential responsibilities for the remainder of his current term.

Now Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the most likely Democratic candidate in the upcoming elections. The Democratic convention, scheduled for early August, is expected to finally announce an official presidential candidate.

Republican candidate Donald Trump first refused, then finally agreed to a public debate with Harris in September.

FRANCE

The 2024 Summer Olympics has started in Paris. The French decided to surprise everyone and staged the opening ceremony not at the stadium, but on the banks of the Seine, as if demonstrating that they are enemies of any inertia and are always on the move, like a stormy river.

However, the Seine is not a stormy river. The unsanitary conditions are observed.

The organisers of the show decided, in an original way, in their opinion, to parody Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, depicting Jesus with the Twelve Apostles as various freaks from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT).

The sweaty, painted and sometimes completely naked bodies, according to the French people, should reflect the will of the French people to freedom of spirit from all sorts of dogmas. They are completely brazenly imposing their new, but in fact well-forgotten old pagan dogmas of debauchery, decadence and death on hundreds of millions of viewers around the world, including children.

It was pouring rain during the ceremony. Either the French authorities did not want to spent money to disperse the clouds, or they hoped that it would wash away their sins.

The Olympics are, in any case, a holiday, no matter how the organizers try to spoil it. We wish the Azerbaijani team good luck and numerous medals, while the audience - to get more pleasure from the bright competitions of the athletes.