The war of words between the US and Russia sharply escalated as both the US and Russia made threats over the continued violence in Ukraine. US Secretary of State Kerry accused Russia of “distraction, deception and destabilization”–strong words in diplomatic language. The Russians claimed that their actions had stopped “regime change” in Russia. The Russians also started new military exercises along the Ukrainian border.
Israel has ended the peace negotiations with the Palestinians as Fatah, the Palestinian faction in the West Bank, and Hamas, the Palestinian faction in the Gaza Strip, announced that they had reconciled their differences. Israel refuses to deal with Hamas because it, unlike Fatah, has not acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. The reconciliation agreement is vague on the issue of Israel, although the Palestinians said that the renewed Palestinian Liberation Organization accepted the earlier decisions (at the Oslo summit in 1992) to recognize Israel’s right to exist. There is a lot of finger-pointing going on right now, but it is safe to say that the negotiations are dead for the foreseeable future.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made a very strong call to get approval for the provision of humanitarian aid to 3.5 million Syrian civilians. The Secretary-General called the behavior of the fighting parties a “flagrant” violation of international law. The UN Security Council had previously approved the provision of aid to the trapped civilians, but the warring parties have not made it possible for the aid to be distributed. The matter is further complicated by the likely non-cooperation of Russia in the Security Council because of the tensions over Ukraine. The failure of the international community in Syria to discharge even the most basic aid to innocent civilians will forever be a blot on the reputation of the UN.
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