Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
NOT QUITE 100 YEARS OF CURTAILED RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARISM
Last week both chambers of the Russian parliament gathered for a special session in St. Petersburg to mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first State Duma. Tsar Nicholas II had ordered the creation of an arena for political dialogue in a country... MORE
RUSSIAN OIL TO FLOW TO CHINA EVEN BEFORE PIPELINE COMPLETED
In an apparent bid to secure a toehold on the lucrative Chinese market, Russian oil majors have moved to supply crude oil to China through Kazakhstan, rather than waiting for completion of Russia's own Pacific oil pipeline. Russia's state-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft indicated on... MORE
AZERBAIJAN ON THE WEST’S NEW FRONTIER OF ENERGY SECURITY (Part 1)
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's April 24-28 visit to Washington spotlighted the urgency of opening direct Western access to eastern Caspian oil and gas reserves. U.S. policy seems, however tentatively, to move in that direction; the European Union is only beginning to consider the issue; and... MORE
KREMLIN TRIES TO CONVINCE WARY WEST THAT STRONG GAZPROM IS GOOD FOR IT
Several seemingly disparate events that occurred this week -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks in Greece and Turkey, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Siberian city of Tomsk, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Washington, and the discussions... MORE
A MURKY MEETING IN MOSCOW ON MOLDOVA
The United States and European Union are maintaining full secrecy over the April 19 Moscow meeting on Moldova. The Russian and Ukrainian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the EU's Special Representative on Moldova, the U.S. State Department, and the OSCE's American-led Moldova Mission participated in the... MORE
PUTIN PLEASES ENVIRONMENTALISTS BY RE-ROUTING PACIFIC PIPELINE
As Russia prepares to start construction of a major oil pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific tomorrow, April 28, the Kremlin offered a generous gesture towards environmentalists unhappy with the pipeline's route. The pipeline is considered to be a major channel for implementing Moscow's... MORE
RUSSIAN FORCES DRILL FOR POSSIBLE REBEL OFFENSIVE IN NORTH CAUCASUS
Russian authorities are preparing for a summer or autumn rebel offensive in the North Caucasus. "It will be a hot summer," Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told AFP. As far back as January Russian generals had recognized the possibility of rebel attacks in any part... MORE
AZERBAIJAN FEARS STANDOFF BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND TEHRAN
Yesterday, April 26, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev began a three-day visit to the United States. This is his first official visit to Washington, which many observers believe will boost U.S.-Azerbaijan strategic relations. Heading the list of topics that President Aliev and President George W. Bush... MORE
MOSCOW MOVING AGAINST YUKOS AND LITHUANIA AHEAD OF G-8 ENERGY SUMMIT
Surprisingly, the United States and European Union are not raising the issue of Russia's destruction of the Yukos oil company and attempt to grab its assets in Lithuania ahead of the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, which Russia wants to focus on energy cooperation. Perhaps... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S TEAM REJECTS TYMOSHENKO’S PRIME MINISTERIAL AMBITION
Yulia Tymoshenko's desire to return to the prime minister's chair has become the main obstacle to restoring the Orange Revolution coalition in order to form a majority in Ukraine's newly elected parliament. President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc has rejected Tymoshenko's demand that the distribution... MORE