#diplomacy

#diplomacy

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has vowed that Tehran will not "bow to pressure" despite the impending triggering of a UN mechanism that would restore sanctions over its alleged "grave noncompliance" of the 2015 nuclear deal. "We are not volunteering for sanctions, but this time, too, the Iranian people will neither back down nor bow to pressure," Aref said on August 31 during a weekly cabinet meeting, according to the ISNA news agency.

We are so delighted to be able to share that Gena, and all those taken with her, have been released following their kidnapping on 3 August, 2025, from the St Helene property in Kenscoff, Haiti.

The intensely close but complex relationship between Britain and Ireland is one that a British ambassador to Ireland observed in a 1977 dispatch: the British "take the Irish for granted, whereas (the Irish) are obsessed with us. We don't remember the past and they cannot forget it." If we think a lot about that relationship, one might think that there would be no need for a book like Philip Stephens's These Divided Isles. Too often we don't think deeply about our relationship with Britain.

Finnish president Alexander Stubb has been speaking at a press conference before the country's ambassadors' conference in Helsinki. In comments reported by the Finnish public broadcaster, Yle, he said that he hoped Trump's patience with Putin would run out soon. He insisted that Finland and other European countries will do everything we can do achieve lasting peace. He also hinted that the only way to force Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine would be by hitting his allies,

"I express my deepest sympathy to those injured in the Russian missile attack on Munkachevo, and I wish them a speedy and full recovery," Sulyok said in his original statement posted to Facebook on August 21. The post was taken down shortly after it went up, only to be replaced by a nearly identical statement with the word "Russian" ("orosz" in Hungarian) removed from the first sentence.

After a week of high-stakes diplomacy aimed at halting the war in Ukraine, United States President Donald Trump says he is set on arranging a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Following separate meetings with both leaders, Trump has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine, but pledged security guarantees to Kyiv and indicated that Washington could provide air support to reinforce a potential deal.

Bolton stated that negotiations between Putin and Zelensky might succeed more if Trump is present, although he expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of direct bilateral talks.

The left, thanking her for raising the plight of Ukraine's abducted children with Putin, seemed to set a more diplomatic tone.

Zelensky began his meeting with Trump by thanking him for delivering a "peace letter" to Putin, asking him to care for children amid war, pivoting to praise the U.S. president.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise is aimed at strengthening readiness against North Korean threats and involves computer simulations and field training with 21,000 troops.

Starmer has shown his willingness to throw the diplomatic kitchen sink at efforts to keep Trump on side, including in February handing the president a written invitation from the king for an unusual second state visit.

Ted Clark was a masterful editor, gentle, patient soul, and steely defender of reporters against bureaucratic managers, demonstrating real diplomacy in challenging environments.

Trump expressed a desire to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize during a phone call with Norway's finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg, while addressing economic cooperation.