Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY CHOOSING COALITION PARTNERS
As the clock ticks down to June 24, when President Viktor Yushchenko may disband the Ukrainian parliament if no group has been able to form a majority there, coalition talks have intensified dramatically. Now Yushchenko's Our Ukraine is in talks not only with the parties... MORE
KARIMOV GAMBLES ON RUSSIA, CHINA, AND GERMANY
Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov has staked much on his efforts to strengthen and sustain relations with both Russia and China. He predictably talked up Uzbekistan's ties with China during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Shanghai on June 15-16. Nonetheless, behind the scenes Karimov... MORE
PUTIN-SAAKASHVILI MIDNIGHT MEETING: FUTILE BUT NECESSARY
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia held a three-hour meeting and joint news conference in St. Petersburg during the night of June 13-14. Saakashvili, who had solicited this meeting, succeeded in demonstrating Georgia's mature approach to the contentious issues beyond Western... MORE
THREE SECESSIONIST LEADERSHIPS ANNOUNCE JOINT AGENDA
The de facto leaders of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria met in Sukhumi on June 12-14. The guest delegations reached Sukhumi via Russia, thus nullifying any deniability of Russia's sponsorship of this exercise. The three leaderships had agreed in December 2005 in Moscow to hold... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN SEEKS IRAN’S RECONCILIATION WITH THE WEST
During his June 6 visit to Tehran Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev extended a message of friendship from President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the letter the Kazakh leader emphasized that the Iranian nuclear crisis goes beyond Tehran's long-standing confrontation with Washington... MORE
NATO MEMBERSHIP ACTION PLAN STILL WITHIN UKRAINE’S REACH IN 2006
Notwithstanding the compromised military exercises and internal political paralysis, Ukraine can still qualify for obtaining a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the alliance's summit in Riga in November. Technically, MAP status would only imply a relatively small advance from Ukraine's present status under the... MORE
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES LOSE CONTROL OVER INGUSHETIA
On the morning of June 9, Lieutenant Colonel Musa Nalgiev, commander of the special-task police squad (OMON) in the republic of Ingushetia, left his home in Karabulak to go to a planning meeting at the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Unlike other days, this time his... MORE
IRAN’S NUCLEAR DEMANDS: TOWARD A NEW ERA OF CONTAINMENT?
On May 31, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a statement that the United States would "join the EU-3 talks" with Tehran "should Iran verifiably suspend all of its enrichment-related activities." The announcement came as a surprise, since the U.S. administration had previously refused... MORE
PROTESTS IN CRIMEA, INCITEMENT FROM MOSCOW, PARALYSIS IN KYIV THWART MILITARY EXERCISES
Kyiv authorities mishandled legal, political, and security aspects of the Sea Breeze and Tight Knot planned exercises, giving the local pro-Russia forces and Moscow an unexpected opportunity to derail this track of Ukraine-U.S. and Ukraine-NATO relations. By starting preparations for the exercises under deadline pressure... MORE
END OF ORANGE COALITION LOOMING?
Talks to establish a government coalition between President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialists have apparently fallen through. Our Ukraine has acquiesced to Tymoshenko's demand to give her back the post of prime minister, which she lost in September 2005.... MORE