Russia and Kazakhstan's leadership have reiterated pledges to boost their bilateral economic and energy partnership. However, they remain divided over some divergent interests, notably in gas processing and oil transit. Earlier this month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev met at... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's call for Western-assisted development of Yamal gas reserves for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG) (EDM, September 25) holds potential global ramifications. Top managers of no fewer than 10 leading international companies attended the session with Putin in Salekhard on... MORE

The latest move by the insurgency in the North Caucasus was not entirely unexpected. It has finally dawned on the rebel leadership of the Caucasus Emirate that waging a war against everyone is a hopeless proposition. Their perpetual hostility toward Sufi Islam resulted in pushing... MORE

In an extensive interview with the Russian ultra-nationalist newspaper Zavtra published on September 23, the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said that he has picked Adam Delimkhanov, the State Duma deputy representing Chechnya, to be his successor. The choice is particularly noteworthy given that Delimkhanov has... MORE

Disinformation, or the planting of false information to deceive or smear an enemy, is now being regularly used by both government and non-governmental players in Russia and Ukraine in the fierce battles for control of power and assets in these countries. During the January 2009... MORE

On September 24 the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin led government ministers and CEO's of some global energy companies on a visit to the Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia. Putin announced that Russia intends to become an exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) worldwide on... MORE

Gazprom's Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev has outlined the company's plans for expanding its investments in the Turkish energy sector, especially natural gas distribution and electricity production markets (Referans, September 23). The growing Russian as well as European interest reflects its desire to obtain an advantageous... MORE

As Turkey has recently concentrated on the debate over whether the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Kurdish initiative to end the long running campaign of violence, the two key actors in the conflict, the Turkish military and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have entered the... MORE

As winter approaches, the Kyrgyz Minister of Energy Iliyas Davydov has announced that electricity will be rationed in the upcoming months. Last year, electricity outages reached 12 hours or more in some parts of Kyrgyzstan. Significantly, electricity shortages were largely caused by the poor management... MORE

On September 17, the Spiritual Board of Muslims of North Ossetia issued a special statement after a small quantity of explosives was found at a local mosque. The statement condemned the incident as a provocation, especially given that it took place during the Muslim holy... MORE