Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced, on September 7, that Russia and Belarus are negotiating conditions for shifting Belarusian oil product exports from the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda to Russian transshipment terminals on the Baltic Sea, with an agreement expected in the next several weeks... MORE

With its latest double breach of norms of international behavior—poisoning the opposition leader Alexei Navalny and embracing the discredited Belarusian autocrat, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka—Russia has managed to unite Europe in outrage. Last week (September 17), the European Parliament approved, by a large majority, a harsh... MORE

The Circassian-Russian conflict over historical monuments has resurfaced again, with the chairperson of the Council of Elders of the Circassian Cultural Diaspora in Moscow, Yuri Agirbov, lodging an official complaint over the public statements of a popular Russian designer, businessman, and blogger, Artemiy Lebedev. According... MORE

In the whirl of the Belarusian protests this summer, decision makers in Minsk and neighboring states have been forced to respond to the repercussions of the political protests even as they try to identify any potential opportunities that have arisen because of them. One such... MORE

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka naturally wants to extend his rule as long as possible, while Belarusians protesting in the streets want to bring it to an end as soon as they can. But Moscow, which has more than a little say in the matter (see EDM,... MORE

On September 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin met at his Sochi residence with his beleaguered Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who is under immense international and domestic pressure following the August 9 presidential elections. Lukashenka has ruled Belarus since 1994; last month, he claimed overwhelming victory,... MORE

In mid-August, Turkey officially announced the discovery of a massive, 320-billion-cubic-meter (bcm) natural gas field in the Black Sea, in an exploration zone called “Tuna-1” (TRT World, August 21). The news was met with some skepticism from energy experts, notably in the Middle East (Arab... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here.   Russian President Vladimir Putin received his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka in Sochi on September 14 (see Part One). Putin emphasized that he had congratulated Lukashenka instantly on his reelection by telephone and in writing and that he... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy tête-à-tête with his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, on September 14, in Sochi—their first meeting since the outbreak of mass protests in Belarus against the flawed August 9 presidential election. Having mismanaged the election, used excessive force against protesters,... MORE

Moscow is stepping up its information campaign against the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by using classic mirror imaging. For more than a decade, Russian strategic bomber flights close to US and NATO airspace designed to test the response of local... MORE