
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Bringing Belarus’s Political Crisis to Resolution Requires Realistic Image of Belarusian Society
“Moralizing About Coronavirus Policy Does Not Stop Coronavirus,” reads one August headline in Bloomberg. So can moralizing about the Belarusian crisis help bring about an agreeable solution? The European Union’s leaders seemingly think so, at least judging from their non-stop condemnations of Belarusian authorities, intent... MORE

Tsirkon Hypersonic Cruise Missile Tested by the Northern Fleet
On October 6, Russia’s Northern Fleet again tested the new anti-ship 3M22 Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile, launching it from the White Sea. The high-profile weapons system is one of several hypersonic missiles under development referred to by President Vladimir Putin in his address to the... MORE

Third Regime Change in Fifteen Years Upends Kyrgyzstani Politics (Part One)
The October 4 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan set off a new protracted cycle of political instability in Central Asia’s second-poorest republic. Though the impact of the ongoing crisis has so far been limited to domestic issues, it may eventually reverberate in various ways through the... MORE

Russia’s Interests in Belarus: Ends and Means (Part Three)
*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. Russia’s interests in Belarus at this stage may be categorized as status quo–oriented interests and those going beyond the status quo; the latter category clearly prevails in the political, institutional, and... MORE

As Arctic Warms, Moscow Increasingly Shifts Focus There From Trade to Security
Global warming—which left the Northern Sea Route ice-free this year for longer than at any point in recorded history (Barents Observer, October 7)—is prompting Moscow to devote ever more attention to security issues in that region relative to trade along a route Russia has traditionally... MORE

Moldova’s Presidential Elections Influenced by Heavy but Discreet Russian Involvement
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s recent lengthy interview (Komsomolskaya Pravda, October 14) stirred deep concerns in the Republic of Moldova. Local media outlets underlined, in particular, Lavrov’s accusation that the United States is attempting to create “an abscess” in Moldova by pushing for the total... MORE

Azerbaijan Makes Strategic Advances Along Karabakh’s Northern, Southern Flanks
On the morning of September 27, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense announced that Armenian forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan had attempted to attack Azerbaijani the positions; in response, Baku launched a large-scale counter-offensive up and down the Line of Contact (LoC) in Karabakh. Within... MORE

Putin’s Non-Starter in Arms Control Marks the Nadir of Russia’s Status
The virtual meeting of the Russian Security Council last Friday (October 16) started with a surprise meant to signify a major foreign policy initiative. Namely, President Vladimir Putin instructed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to present to the leadership of the United States with the suggestion... MORE

Competition Among Ports in the Caspian Sea and the Significance of the Port of Baku
On July 29, the Russian government issued an order concerning plans for the development of federal transport, railway, information and communications infrastructure that includes the construction of Port Lagan, in the Republic of Kalmykia (Portnews.ru, August 3). The idea to establish a port in Kalmykia... MORE

General Electric Subsidiary to Provide Russian LNG Project With Key Equipment
The poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny caused an uproar in the international community, even leading to debates inside Germany about whether to punish Moscow by canceling the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline (see EDM, September 21). While the fate of Gazprom’s multi-billion-dollar... MORE