The Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 20 that it had summoned the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Stephanie Holmes to protest what it called "provocative" reports by U.S. journalists from the Kyiv-controlled part of Russia's Kursk region who "illegally" crossed the Russian border. The ministry also claimed that "evidence" showed the presence of unspecified U.S. private military groups' involvement in Ukraine's ongoing incursion into the region, adding that "necessary investigative actions to bring them to justice" will be carried out.

CIA Director William Burns visited Sarajevo on August 20, Almir Dzuvo, the chief of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Intelligence and Security Agency, confirmed to RFE/RL. The information was also confirmed to RFE/RL by a source close to the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. Burns and Dzuvo held a meeting, the latter told RFE/RL. "He (Burns) voiced his support for the cooperation of U.S. and Bosnian intelligence agencies," Dzuvo said. The purpose of Burns' visit has not been revealed. The last CIA director to visit Bosnia before Burns was John Brennan in 2016.

Ukrainian lawmaker Roman Kostenko told RFE/RL on August 20 that no evacuation of local residents from parts of Russia's Kursk region that is controlled by Kyiv's armed forces to Ukraine is under way at the moment. Kostenko added that the Ukraine-installed commandant's office is ensuring the protection of local residents in Russian territories under Kyiv's control, in accordance with the Geneva conventions. Kostenko added that, if some Russian citizens from the Kursk region have appeared on the Ukrainian side of the border, that must have been done through their own initiative and efforts. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Iranian police have shut down Germany’s Das Deutsche Sprachinstitut Teheran (DSIT) -- the German Language Institute Tehran -- for allegedly “violating the country’s laws,” prompting Berlin to summon Iran's ambassador.

In a post on X, the Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary said on August 20 that two branches of “illegal centers affiliated with the German government” had been shut down for “committing several illegal actions and extensive financial violations.”

It added that the judiciary had "received reports of violations by other centers linked to Germany" without elaborating.

Formerly called the Goethe Institute, the cultural center is managed by the Germany Embassy in the Iranian capital.

"We condemn Iranian security authorities' treatment of that German language institute in Tehran," the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said, noting that the Iranian ambassador had been summoned.

Prior to Mizan’s post, an informed source told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that police officers had shuttered the institute’s branches in uptown Tehran on August 20, confirming earlier claims on social media.

The move comes after Germany last month banned the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, an Iran-linked organization that it said "promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany."

The German authorities also shut down five IZH suborganizations, saying that they "also support the terrorists of Hizballah and spread aggressive antisemitism,” referring to Iran’s Lebanon-based ally that has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Speaking to Radio Farda, a former DSIT student said the closure was a “sad” development because the institute served as a “second home” for people who wanted to learn German in an environment “more open” than Iranian universities.

They said most people who studied at the institute sought to migrate to continue their studies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Now, those looking to learn German have to pay more to study at less reputable institutes and travel abroad to take an accredited German language exam.

Many people immediately expressed concerns about what the shuttering of the institute would mean for their scheduled language exams.

Photos shared on the social media platform showed several police cars parked outside premises of the cultural institute. Police officers were also seen standing under the institute’s torn-down signboard.

The Goethe Institute opened its first branch in Iran in 1958 but its cultural activities were severely restricted following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, resulting in its closure in 1987.

The institute resumed operations in 1995 under a new name -- DSIT -- but it continued to be referred to locally as Goethe Institute.

Kazakh anti-nuclear activist Meiirkhan Abdimanapov was fined 129,000 tenges ($270) after he was detained in Almaty on August 19 on his way to Astana, where he planned to take part in public debates on government's plans to construct a nuclear power station in Kazakhstan. Abdimanapov spent several hours in police custody and was released late in the night after a court fined him for taking part in rallies held six months ago to support incarcerated independent journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim. Abdimanapov says the goal of his detention was to prevent him from taking part in debates in Astana over the nuclear plant. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

Ukrainian lawmakers on August 20 approved a bill banning religious organizations linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, which Kyiv has portrayed as supportive of Moscow's full-scale invasion.

Lawmaker Oleksandr Honcharenko said 265 members in parliament (Verkhovna Rada) approved the bill that once signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will pave the way to banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's branch (UOC) associated with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The legislation bans the activities of religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence "in a state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine." It says a court of law would be empowered to terminate such activities.

The bill has been a hot issue for lawmakers. In July, senior legislators refused to put it to a vote, after which, deputies representing several parties blocked the podium armed with a banner reading "The Moscow church kills."

SEE ALSO:

Internal Rifts And U.S. Politics In Play As Ukraine Considers Banning Long Russian-Linked Church

Zelenskiy's Servant of the People party split over the fate of the legislation targeting the UOC, whose controversial role in Ukraine has drawn further scrutiny since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukrainian lawmakers gave their initial approval to the bill in October 2023.

The UOC is a branch of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church that previously was under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox patriarch in Moscow. It officially cut ties with Moscow last year over Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, but officials linked to the church have been accused of maintaining links with Russia.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in October that 68 criminal cases, including accusations of treason, had been initiated against UOC representatives since Russia's invasion.

The UOC has insisted the legislation would not comply with the Ukrainian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, accusing Kyiv of trying to portray its Ukrainian clergymen and believers as "agents of the Russian Federation."

The Russian Orthodox Church has staunchly backed President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s invasion.

Pakistan's military says five suspected militants and three troops were killed in a firefight in the Bajaur tribal district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The public relations department of Pakistan's Army said the clash occurred early on August 19 in Bajaur's Mamondo area. The military said four other suspected militants were wounded. It did not say which militant group the suspects, who were attempting to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan, belonged to. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen an increase in deadly attacks that mostly remained unclaimed while some of them were claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan.

The Committee to Protect Journalists on August 19 called on Tajik authorities to drop bribery charges against noted journalist Ahmad Ibrohim, who was arrested a week earlier.

"Following the wave of lengthy convictions against journalists in Tajikistan since 2022, the arrest of Ahmad Ibrohim is yet another reminder of how dangerous any form of critical journalism is in the country's deeply repressive media environment," CPJ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator Gulnoza Said emphasized in the statement.

"Tajik authorities should release Ibrohim, along with seven other journalists currently incarcerated in retaliation for their work, and allow the media to operate freely," Said added.

Several sources close to law enforcement in Tajikistan told RFE/RL over the weekend that police in the Central Asian nation's southern city of Kulob had arrested the 62-year-old editor-in-chief of the Paik (Message) independent newspaper after he allegedly offered a bribe to an official in exchange for re-registration of his media outlet.

According to some sources, Ibrohim’s arrest appeared to have been a setup.

Authorities in Kulob have refused to extend Paik's license to operate since March, the sources said, and a state security services officer who had spent several months cultivating a relationship with Ibrohim said he could help obtain a license for 2500 somoni ($235). After Ibrohim handed over the money, he was arrested.

If convicted, Ibrohim could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

Tajik officials have yet to announce the arrest officially.

In recent years, several Tajik journalists, rights activists, and opposition politicians have been handed lengthy prison terms on charges seen by rights groups as trumped-up and politically motivated.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who has run the Central Asian nation for almost 30 years, has been criticized by international human rights groups over his administration's alleged disregard for independent media, religious freedoms, civil society, and political pluralism.

Kyiv says it is continuing its two-week-old incursion into Russia's border region of Kursk with the aim of creating a buffer zone to protect civilians along the border, but Moscow is pressing unabated its offensive farther south in Donetsk region, where it claims to have captured a key logistics hub on August 20.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine now controls 1,250 kilometers and 92 settlements in Kursk since it launched its surprise cross-border operation on August 6, and Russia acknowledged that three key bridges over the Seym River were destroyed, cutting important supply lines for Moscow forces.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

However, Kyiv's aim is not territorial gain and has a clear scope -- ensuring the safety against incessant Russian shelling and strikes from across the border, one of Zelenskiy's senior advisers, Mykhaylo Podolyak, told Current Time, adding that Ukraine's operation is adhering to international legislation and protects the civilian population.

"Ukraine does not intend to seize populated areas or occupy this territory," Podolyak said on August 19.

"This is a different type of war, a war that is clearly spelled out in international law and in conventions that regulate behavior toward combatants and especially toward noncombatants, toward the civilian population on this territory."

Podolyak told Current Time that Moscow has been using border areas to strike civilian infrastructure up to 70-80 kilometers inside Ukraine.

"Along the border, including in the Kursk region, artillery is deployed 1 or 2 kilometers from the state border, ballistic launchers are deployed, multiple-launch rocket systems are deployed," he said.

"Take [Ukraine's] Sumy region, located just opposite Kursk region. About 500-600 shellings were carried out daily targeting the territory of the Sumy region. Squeezing out Russian weapons to a depth of 100 kilometers will already make it possible to protect the civilian population in the Ukrainian border area, for example in the Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions."

Referring to the civilian population that remains in the territory now under Ukrainian military's control, Podolyak said Kyiv is fulfilling all the requirements of international humanitarian legislation.

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"We keep a register of civilians. International law very strictly requires that you bear actual responsibility for residents, citizens, and noncombatants. International humanitarian law clearly spells out your responsibility in the zone of actual control if there is military action there. Of course, registers will be compiled, our guys are looking at who is there, who needs to be sent where, and so on."

Ukrainian lawmaker Roman Kostenko told RFE/RL on August 20 that no evacuation of local residents from Kursk areas controlled by Ukraine's armed forces to Ukraine is under way at the moment.

Kostenko added that the Kyiv-installed command office is ensuring the protection of local residents in Russian territories under Ukraine's control, in accordance with Geneva conventions.

On August 19, Zelenskiy again pushed for permission from Ukraine's allies to use long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

• Amos Chapple

Washington has reportedly indicated it is "open" to supplying Ukraine with longer-range cruise missiles that have the ability to significantly impact the war with Russia. But experts say their high cost will limit how the missiles are used.

"Ukraine is separated from halting the advance of the Russian Army on the front by only one decision we await from our partners: the decision on long-range capabilities," he said.

The United States and other allies of Ukraine have placed restrictions on the use of the weapons over concerns that it could escalate the war.

Podolyak, however, said such an escalation would only occur if Ukraine acted in a similar way to Russia and struck civilian areas, which would put Kyiv morally on the same footing as Moscow.

"There is definitely no point in striking big cities or populated areas as such. This will not solve any problem and would equalize Ukraine and Russia in the type of warfare, which is absolutely pointless," Podolyak said.

The United States, Ukraine's main ally and supplier of modern weapons systems, remains opposed for the time being to allowing Ukraine to use long-range western arms to strike deeper inside Russia.

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"I will say that our policy has not changed. I just don't have anything to add to that," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question on the subject on August 19.

Meanwhile, Russia on August 20 claimed to have captured Nyu-York, an important logistics hub in Donetsk, as it continues its grinding advance toward the city of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian authorities have ordered the mandatory evacuation of children.

"As a result of the actions of the units of the center group of forces, a large grouping of enemy troops was defeated and one of the largest settlements in Toretsk agglomeration, the strategically important logistics hub of [Nyu-York].. was liberated," the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.

The capture of Nyu-York, which had a population of around 10,000 before the start of the war, could not be independently confirmed.

On August 19, Russia said it had captured the nearby town of Zalizne, also part of Toretsk urban agglomeration.

Ukrainian air-defense systems repelled a missile strike on Kyiv early on August 20, the fifth missile attack by Russia's military on the Ukrainian capital this month, the air force reported.

Elsewhere, a large fire broke out in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, regional officials said, urging people to remain inside.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

U.S. intelligence officials said on August 19 that they were confident Iran was responsible for the hacking of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. They cast the cyber intrusion as part of a brazen and broader effort by Tehran to interfere in U.S. politics and potentially shape the outcome of the November election. Besides breaching the Trump campaign, officials also believe Iran tried to hack into the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris. Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the allegations as "unsubstantiated and devoid of any standing," saying Iran had neither the motive nor intention to interfere with the election.

Ukrainian air-defense systems repelled a missile strike on Kyiv early on August 20, the fifth missile attack by Russia's military on the Ukrainian capital this month, the air force reported, adding that according to early assessments there were no casualties or damage. The military said the wave of Iskander K cruise missiles was preceded just hours earlier by drone strikes. Meanwhile, a large fire broke out in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, regional officials said, urging people to remain inside. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

PRISTINA -- Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani says Kosovo is in consultations with the international community on opening the main bridge in Mitrovica that divides ethnic Albanian and Serbian communities.

Osmani told RFE/RL in an interview on August 19 that opening the bridge, which has been a point of contention in Mitrovica because of concerns that it would increase already high ethnic tensions, is a priority and could turn into a “symbol of normalization” in relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

The bridge divides the Albanian-majority southern side and a Serb-majority northern side of the city, Kosovar authorities have been seeking a way to open it in a way that does not provoke conflict with Kosovo's international partners.

“Of course, we need to ask for the bridge to open very soon because we are already eight years too late,” she said, adding that this doesn’t mean that Kosovo has told its allies in the Quint -- an informal decision-making group consisting of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain -- that Pristina would disregard security concerns or open the bridge without working with them.

Osmani said it would not make sense for Pristina to take the step without making sure that its security partners were on board because “it would backfire” and “that is not in the interest of Kosovo.”

Prime Minister Albin Kurti at the beginning of August announced plans to open the bridge to vehicle traffic despite opposition from members of both NATO and Quint. The announcement sparked protests by Serbs in northern Kosovo, who expressed concerns that the move would increase ethnic tensions and impact their safety.

SEE ALSO:

Kurti Defends Plans To Open Mitrovica Bridge Despite International Criticism

NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeeping mission and the European Union have requested that the matter be taken up by Brussels, but Osmani said she opposes this given that Kosovo and Serbia already have an agreement and the two sides consider the issue closed.

Talks will continue, she said, but it will be crucial that the two sides fully coordinate with NATO.

Osmani said that she spoke about the opening of the bridge with Kurti about a month ago and they agreed that there must be coordination with NATO’s presence in Kosovo, which includes EU partners that are members of NATO and others that are not, along with the United States, which she described as “our main security partner.”

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The current security assessment regarding the bridge is critical and open to exploitation by Serbia, Osmani said.

“There is a constant threat, as we all know, and as we've said it publicly many times, from forces that are financed, instigated, as well as pushed politically and trained militarily by Serbia,” she told RFE/RL. “Of course, it is in Serbia's interest to always cause some sort of a tension in Kosovo.”

She noted that Milan Radoicic, a Kosovar Serb politician who has claimed he is the sole mastermind of an armed attack on the village of Banjska in September 2023 that left a Kosovo police officer and three attackers dead, is still free.

Serbia has refused to extradite him to face charges in Kosovo despite an arrest warrant issued by Interpol, but there has been no formal decision.

SEE ALSO:

Who Was Behind The Deadly Attack At The Orthodox Monastery In Kosovo?

She also claimed there are people in Kosovo who “still try to hide their weapons,” adding that even as recently as just a few days ago Kosovar police confiscated weapons “that are hidden by certain people in the north” who cooperate with “gangs” in Serbia.

She also repeated her claim that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is the “mastermind” behind the hiding of weapons and the deadly attack in September -- a charge that Vucic has vehemently denied.

“It's not a political assumption. I know for a fact that Aleksandar Vucic is directly involved in ordering the Banjska attack” she said, adding that Kosovo’s NATO partners and other Balkan countries know this as well.

“When you deal with minds like that, you need to gather around, regroup, reorganize, understand who your friends and partners are, and work with them to prevent such scenarios which are trying to bring our region back to the 1990s,” she said.

U.S. television talk show pioneer Phil Donahue, who hosted a groundbreaking television discussion series between U.S. and Soviet audiences in the 1980s, has died aged 88. Donahue, who died on August 18, was well known in the United States for launching the daytime television talk show genre. His Cold War programs were known as Citizen Summits and featured simultaneous broadcasts from a city within each country where studio audiences could ask questions of one another. Donahue and Soviet television journalist Vladimir Posner moderated each of their respective audiences. In the 1990s, the pair also co-hosted a weekly issues roundtable on U.S. business broadcaster CNBC. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Russian service, click here.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has again pushed for permission from Ukraine's allies to use long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

"Ukraine is separated from halting the advance of the Russian Army on the front by only one decision we await from our partners: the decision on long-range capabilities," Zelenskiy said in a speech to Ukrainian ambassadors on August 19.

The United States and other allies of Ukraine have placed restrictions on the use of the weapons over concerns that it could escalate the war.

Zelenskiy also told the diplomats that Ukrainian forces have taken control of 92 settlements in the Kursk region of Russia and now control more than 1,250 square kilometers of enemy territory in the nearly two weeks since the start of the surprise cross-border incursion.

"Ukrainian soldiers continue the defensive operation in certain areas of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation," he said. "We are continuing to strengthen our positions, stabilize certain areas, and replenish the exchange fund," Zelenskiy said in an apparent reference to Russian troops taken prisoner by Ukraine.

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The operation is "our biggest investment in the process of freeing Ukrainians from Russian captivity. "This is one of our goals," he said.

Zelenskiy said earlier on Telegram that Ukrainian forces were fulfilling their objectives while pressing their incursion into Kursk, while Moscow acknowledged that Ukraine has damaged a third bridge over the River Seym critical to Russian troop movements in the region.

A video statement from a representative of Russia's Investigative Committee was posted on the Telegram channel of Russian state TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov. In the video, the investigator said Ukrainian forces had struck the bridge a day earlier.

On August 18, Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said his troops had damaged a second strategic bridge over the Seym, limiting Russia’s supply capacity as it tries to prevent Ukraine from bolstering its positions.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Russian military bloggers previously posted an image of the first bridge that was hit near the village of Zvannoye in Kursk.

According to Russian security officials, the destruction of that bridge cut off part of the Glushkov district.

Analysts say taking out bridges over the Seym is crucial for Ukraine to ensure a secure flank to its offensive in Kursk by making it difficult for Moscow to supply its troops south of the river.

"If the Ukrainians can make it impossible for the Russians to supply troops south of the Seym, they will at a minimum provide a secure flank to their offensive," said Philips P. O'Brien, a professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "The Russian military is ponderous and needs heavy logistical supply to undertake operations. Without bridges, its hard to see the Russians supplying the needed forces to keep that area effectively militarized," O'Brien wrote in a blog post on August 18.

Ukraine launched its surprise counteroffensive into Russia's Kursk region on August 6, altering the dynamics of the 2 1/2-year war and causing 120,000 people to flee.

Zelenskiy on August 18 said Ukraine's main task is "to destroy as much Russian potential as possible and conduct maximum counterattack work," with the aim of creating a "buffer zone."

Meanwhile, intense fighting continued in the eastern region of Donetsk, Zelenskiy said, as Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have captured the village of Zalizne.

"Heavy fighting continues in the Pokrovsk direction, and the defense of Toretsk," Zelenskiy said in his message on Telegram, while regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said, "We are starting the forced evacuation of families with children from the Pokrovsk community."

Earlier on August 19, Russian shelling in Donetsk killed three and injured nine people, according to Filashkin. He also said casualties were reported in Myrnograd, Toretsk, and Rozliva.

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Governor Vasily Golubev of Russia's Rostov region that borders Ukraine said on August 19 that a state of emergency was introduced in the town of Proletarsk. The day before, 18 firefighters were injured while trying to extinguish a massive fire caused by drone attacks.

Golubev also said four firefighters are in serious condition, adding that despite all efforts to extinguish the fire, the situation remains "the same."

Local authorities said on August 18 that Ukrainian forces staged two drone strikes at the oil depot.

Kyiv said the attacks were organized by the Ukrainian armed forces and Ukraine's HUR military intelligence service.

Russia also launched 11 Shahed-type drones toward Donetsk and several other regions, including Kyiv, but the Ukrainian Air Force said they had all been intercepted.

With reporting by Reuters

A court in Kazakhstan's eastern city of Oskemen has replaced a six-year prison sentence given to a nephew of Kazakhstan's former strongman President Nursultan Nazarbaev with a suspended sentence.

Court No. 2 in the capital of the East Kazakhstan region ruled on August 16 that Qairat Satybaldy, 52, must be released with a suspended 40-month sentence, stressing that the once extremely powerful businessman and politician had returned all the money he was accused of embezzling to the State Treasury.

At a hearing prior to the ruling, Satybaldy offered his apologies to the Kazakh government and people for his crimes.

The court's ruling came less than two years after Satybaldy was sentenced to six years in prison by a court in Astana after he pleaded guilty to all charges following indictments for fraud and embezzlement.

Satybaldy was arrested in March 2022 while trying to board a plane heading to Turkey. The probe launched against him was one of a series of investigations targeting relatives and allies of Nazarbaev.

Kazakhstan’s Anti-Corruption Agency accused Satybaldy of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from state companies Kazakhtelecom and Transport Service Center.

The agency said at the time that $500 million had been returned to the State Treasury and that 29 percent of Kazakhtelecom's shares that had been controlled by Satybaldy were placed back under state control.

After unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022, the Kazakh regime began to quietly target Nazarbaev, his family, and other allies -- many of whom held powerful or influential posts in government, security agencies, and profitable energy companies.

SEE ALSO:

Will A Nazarbaev Relative Stand Trial Over Kazakhstan's 'Bloody January'?

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, whom Nazarbaev handpicked as his successor after stepping down in 2019, distanced himself from the former leader after the January unrest, which was fueled by Kazakhs’ pent up frustration with cronyism and corruption.

Toqaev stripped Nazarbaev of the sweeping powers he had retained as the head of the Security Council after resigning.

Just days after the protests, two of Nazarbaev’s sons-in-law were pushed out of top jobs at two major oil and gas companies.

Another son-in-law, Timur Kulibaev, resigned as chairman of the country’s main business lobby group, while Nazarbaev's eldest daughter, Darigha, was apparently forced to give up her parliamentary seat.

Authorities also launched probes against leaders of a company linked to Nazarbaev's youngest daughter, Aliya.

BAKU -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on August 19 that Moscow is ready to get involved in the process of signing a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia on the basis of trilateral agreements reached after the 44-day war between the two South Caucasus nations in 2020.

"We also are ready to facilitate the delimitation and demarcation of the [Azerbaijani-Armenian] border, as we have possessed corresponding documents since the Soviet times; unblocking transborder routes; establishing humanitarian contacts," Putin said, stressing that "stable peace in the South Caucasus corresponds to the deep interests of all the nations in the region."

Aliyev said in turn that he was “very satisfied” with the current state of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

The head of the Baku-based Institute of Political Management, Azer Qasimli, told RFE/RL that major issues discussed between Putin and Aliyev were related to Baku’s regaining control over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in September last year, which led to the dissolution of the region’s separatist ethnic Armenian government.

Qasimli added that Putin is looking for ways to sell Russian gas to Europe via Azerbaijan amid Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia has tried to topple [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinian and bring pro-Russian politicians to power. It failed to work and Pashinian’s government got stronger and chose the course of getting closer to the West,” Qasimli said, adding that the tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia remains very high and could lead to "a new wave of clashes.”

Putin arrived in Baku for a two-day official visit on August 18.

His visit comes as Azerbaijan and Armenia have been in talks over a peace treaty.

SEE ALSO:

A Constitutional Amendment That Could Lead To Peace Between Armenia And Azerbaijan

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, used to be under ethnic Armenians' control for three decades.

Since Baku regained control over the breakaway region, ties between Russia and Armenia have been tense. Yerevan has accused Moscow of failing to meet its obligations after Russian troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a November 2020 cease-fire agreement avoided any involvement in Baku's victorious lightning offensive in September.

The authorities in Yerevan did not immediately react to Putin’s comments in Baku, while Gagik Melkonian, an outspoken lawmaker representing the ruling Civil Contract party, dismissed them. He claimed that the Russian leader travelled to Baku to discuss further anti-Armenian moves with Aliyev.

“They handed over Karabakh to Baku and are now reminding them that Baku is in debt to them for that,” Melkonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “So, I personally don’t expect anything good from that [Baku] meeting.”

Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections, which were scheduled for October 20, have been indefinitely postponed after President Rumen Radev refused to sign a decree approving the formation of a caretaker government. Radev is said to have a problem with the decision by his own nominee for caretaker prime minister, Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, to retain Kalin Stoyanov as interior minister. Radev’s refusal to approve Grancharova-Kozhareva’s proposed cabinet means the current caretaker government of Dimitar Glavchev will remain in power until the parliament presents a new shortlist of potential prime ministers. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service, click here.

A government spokesman on August 19 insisted that Germany would continue to supply necessary aid to support Ukraine against Russia's invasion, despite plans to halve its budget for helping Kyiv in 2025. "Reporting that insinuates we are cutting back on aid is simply inaccurate," spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told reporters, adding that Germany was "fully committed" to supporting Ukraine "for as long as necessary." The latest budget draft includes around 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) set aside for Ukraine in next year's budget, compared with around 8 billion euros in 2024.

The trial started in Minsk on August 19 of 12 people over a drone attack at the Machulishchy Air Base near the Belarusian capital in late February 2023 that damaged a Russian military plane.

The Vyasna human rights center said the defendants, many of whom are being tried in absentia, were charged with high treason, terrorism, facilitating extremist activities, financing terrorist activities, organizing and preparing of activities that blatantly disrupt public order, premeditated damage of vehicles, illegal operations with weapons and explosives, participation in terrorism training, etc.

The defendants include Maksim Lapatsin, Andrey Stsyapurka, Aleh Sychou, Dzyanis Sakalou, Anastasia Pilko, and six other defendants who are not in Belarus -- Alyaksandr Azarau, Yauhenia Tachytskaya, Mikhail Dzyomin, Syarhey Laparau, Vital Yakutsik, Ala Yatsuta, and Ukrainian national Mykola Shvets.

The leader of the Belarusian antigovernment group ByPol, Alyaksandr Azarau, said in July last year that the attack at the Machulishchy Air Base that damaged Russia's A-50 early warning and control plane was a joint operation by ByPol and Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).

Russia used the Machulishchy Air Base near the Belarusian capital for aircraft involved in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.

Although the invasion was partly organized in Moscow-allied Belarus, authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka has sought to downplay his regime's role in the conflict.

Belarusian authorities said at the time they arrested more than 20 men and women suspected of involvement in the high-profile attack.

Belarusian investigators claimed the Ukrainian national, Shvets, was an SBU agent. Shvets and several other Ukrainians were released and returned to Ukraine in a prisoner swap in June, but despite that Shvets is among the Belarusians being tried in absentia.

In March this year, Ukrainian officials confirmed the SBU's involvement into the attack at the Belarusian airbase.

Mudslides and floods caused by heavy rains damaged hundreds of houses in towns and villages around Kyrgyzstan’s resort region of Issyk-Kul on August 18. Bekmamat Abdyrakhmanov of the Emergencies Ministry told RFE/RL on August 19 that dozens of buildings in spa complexes near the Lake of Issyk-Kul were also damaged. A state of emergency was introduced in the Issyk-Kul and Ton districts. Rescue teams are working on cleaning up roads and areas affected by the mass mudslides and floods. Since spring this year, mudslides and floods caused by heavy rains have killed 25 people in the Central Asian nation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

Several sources close to law enforcement in Tajikistan told RFE/RL over the weekend that police in the Central Asian nation's southern city of Kulob had arrested noted journalist Ahmad Ibrohim on bribe-related charges. According to the sources, the 62-year-old editor-in-chief of the Paik (Message) independent newspaper was arrested on August 12 after he allegedly offered a bribe to an official in exchange for re-registration of his media outlet. Tajik officials are yet to announce the arrest. In recent years, several Tajik journalists, rights activists, and opposition politicians have been handed lengthy prison terms on charges seen by rights groups as trumped-up and politically motivated. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.

Russian media cited sources close to the Moscow city police department on August 18 as saying that dozens of migrant workers were officially summoned to enlistment centers following police raids over the weekend. The raids were held to locate illegal immigrants and check if naturalized Russian citizens from former Soviet republics comply with a recently adopted law that obliges new Russian passport holders to go through military registration. Since January, police raids on labor migrants from Central Asia have increased across Russia. Some detained labor migrants have been forcibly brought to military enlistment centers where they were forced to sign contracts for deployment in Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Two rights groups have reported that eight people were executed in two Iranian prisons in the early hours of August 19. Haalvsh, a group that monitors rights violations against Iran's Baluch ethnic minority, said three Baluchis and two Afghan nationals were hanged in a prison in the central city of Yazd. Their charges varied from murder to carrying illicit drugs. Separately, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights reported that three men had been executed in a prison in the southern city of Shiraz for similar charges. The group said Iran had executed at least 376 people this year. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

The office of Russia's Prosecutor General on August 19 said it had banned a foundation launched by American movie star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal Clooney. In a press release, it said the Clooney Foundation for Justice had been designated as an "undesirable" organization for carrying out extensive work to discredit Russia, actively supporting false patriots, backing banned terrorist and extremist groups, and advancing criminal probes against Russia's top leadership. The foundation along with several other NGOs appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee, accusing Russia of violating the rights of Ukrainians killed in a 2022 missile attack on Vinnytsya. To read the full story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Montenegrin police announced on August 18 that it had detained Roman Ziemian, a Polish national wanted by Poland and South Korea for multimillion-dollar fraud. Ziemian, who cofounded the digital currency trading platform FutureNet, allegedly defrauded users out of around $21 million. The 51-year-old was detained in Montenegro capital, Podgorica, on August 17. Ziemian was previously apprehended in Italy in 2022 and was placed under house arrest before he escaped. To read the full story by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, click here.