BAKU: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on a visit to Baku Monday that Moscow was still committed to its historic role of mediating peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, despite its Ukraine campaign.
Putin was in Azerbaijan on a two-day visit — his first to the oil-rich country since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, and since Baku retook the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in a September 2023 offensive.
Russia has for decades been a traditional mediator between the Caucasus foes but has in the last two years been bogged down by its Ukraine campaign, with Western powers playing an increasing role in arbitrating the conflict.
“It is widely known that Russia is also facing crises, first of all on the Ukrainian track,” Putin said in Baku in joint remarks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“However, Russia’s historical involvement in the events in the South Caucasus, even during the recent years, makes it necessary for us to participate where needed by the sides, without a doubt.”
Baku’s campaign ended three decades of Armenian separatist rule and soured relations between Yerevan and its traditional ally Moscow, with Armenia accusing Russia of inaction and strengthening its ties with Western countries since.
“If we can do something to sign a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia... we will be very happy to,” Putin said.
The Russian leader said that after his Baku visit he will contact Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to “tell him about the results of our negotiations.”
Aliyev said the security of the region largely depended on the close cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia.
“The new situation (since September last year) opens up new opportunities for establishing a lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” he said.
When Baku recaptured Karabakh in a swift offensive last September, it led to the exodus of the mountainous enclave’s entire ethnic Armenian population — more than 100,000 people.
Putin in Baku offers to mediate Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
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Putin in Baku offers to mediate Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
- Russia has for decades been a traditional mediator between the Caucasus foes but has in the last two years been bogged down by its Ukraine campaign
Australia demands social media giants report progress on account bans for children under 16
MELBOURNE: Australian authorities on Thursday demanded some of the world’s biggest social media platforms report how many accounts they have deactivated since a ban on accounts for children younger than 16 became law.
Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch all said they would abide by Australia’s world-first law that took effect on Wednesday, Communications Minister Anika Wells said.
But the tech companies’ responses to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s first demand for data will likely indicate their commitment to ridding their platforms of young children.
“Today the eSafety Commissioner will write to all 10 platforms who are considered age-restricted social media platforms and she will ask them … what were your numbers of under 16 accounts on Dec. 9; what are your numbers today on Dec. 11?” Wells said.
The commissioner would reveal the platforms’ responses within two weeks. The platforms would be required to provide monthly updates for six months.
The companies face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32.9 million) from Wednesday if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australian children younger than 16.
Wells said the European Commission, France, Denmark, Greece, Romania, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand were considering following Australia’s lead in restricting children’s access to social media.
“There’s been a huge amount of global interest and we welcome it, and we welcome all of the allies who are joining Australia to take action in this space to draw a line to say enough’s enough,” Wells said.
Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project plans to challenge the law on constitutional grounds in the Australian High Court early next year.
Inman Grant said some platforms had consulted lawyers and might be waiting to receive their first so-called compulsory information notice Thursday or their first fine for noncompliance before mounting a legal challenge.
Inman Grant said her staff were ready for the possibility that platforms would deliberately fail to exclude young children through age verification and age estimation technologies.
“That could be a strategy that they have in and of themselves: we’ll say we’re complying but then we’ll do a crappy job using these technologies and we’ll let people get through and have people claim it’s a failure,” Inman Grant told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Inman Grant said her research had found that 84 percent of children in Australia aged 8-12 had accessed a social media account. Of those with social media access, 90 percent did so with the help of parents.
Inman Grant said the main reason parents helped was because “they didn’t want their children to be excluded.”
“What this legislation does … is it takes away that fear of exclusion,” Inman Grant said.
