Main News of May 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The sale by Russia of S-300 air defense systems to Syria would be “destabilizing” for the region, US Secretary State John Kerry said

* Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, expects the Taliban influence in Afghanistan to grow after international coalition forces are pulled out, while rising radicalism in Syria could lead to the country’s disintegration

* A court in Georgia has ruled that former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili remain in custody for two months pending trial on charges of corruption and abuse of office, local media reported

* Kazakhstan’s parliament ratified an agreement with Britain on transit of military equipment and personnel across its territory from Afghanistan, where British troops are serving in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)

* A group of officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will monitor the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops on the border with the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the unrecognized republic’s Foreign Ministry said

RUSSIA

* US President Barack Obama reaffirmed his desire to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Russia during talks with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said

* An international conference on European security opened in Moscow with Russia hoping to discuss approaches to the new pan-European security architecture in an open dialogue with the European Union and the NATO

* Russia is demonstrating “insufficient” economic growth rates but the country will be able to avoid even a technical recession this year, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said

*The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed as “politicized” the Religious Freedom Report recently published by the US Department of State and said that such documents incite religious conflicts

* The Russian authorities clamped down in 2012 on peaceful protests and freedom of expression, while using state media to smear its political opponents, Amnesty International said in its annual human rights report