The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh and the adjoining regions of Azerbaijan now occupied by Armenian forces is almost invariably discussed in terms of the positions held by Baku, Yerevan and Moscow. But the attitudes and feelings of the people most directly involved—the... MORE

Moscow’s vaunted “pivot to the East” did not begin when Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. Instead, it dates back to late 2006, when he ordered the development of the Russian Far East and Siberia. Others may prefer to believe it began with... MORE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has yielded to Russia in accepting the Steinmeier Formula, a procedure for implementing the Minsk “accords” on Russian-defined terms (see EDM, September 17, 24, 25, 26). On October 1, in the Minsk Contact Group, Ukraine agreed to incorporate the core part... MORE

The Ukrainian crisis has been at the center of Russia’s confrontation with the West since February 2014, when a popular revolution, seen in Moscow as a Western-sponsored coup, ousted the pro-Russian government of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. This, the Kremlin believed, was an attempt by... MORE

On August 12, during the Caspian Economic Forum in Turkmenistan, Russia and Iran expressed their discontent regarding the long-proposed Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCP) project (see EDM, September 4). Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stressed that all “major Caspian Sea projects should undergo an impartial environmental... MORE

Five months after the Druzhba pipeline contamination fiasco—in which chlorides-heavy petroleum from Russia was sent into the Belarusian and European pipeline networks, causing $800 million in damage (see EDM, April 26, July 23; Commentaries, May 1, June 21)—the economic fallout has pit two Russian oil... MORE

Since the reform of Russia’s Armed Forces began in late 2008, Moscow has developed a credible conventional military capability. Among the subset of capabilities over the past decade are the critically important advances in combat support offered by Electronic Warfare (EW) (see EDM, April 17,... MORE

Moscow has seemingly long wanted to have it both ways (see EDM, April 2, 23) on the Montreux Convention, which governs naval passage through the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and the Dardanelles). On the one hand, Russia has cast itself as a supporter of this... MORE

President Igor Dodon has effectively disavowed Moldova’s sponsorship of the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) resolution, adopted one year ago at Chisinau’s initiative, that called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova’s Transnistria region. Addressing the UNGA on September 26 (Presedinte.md, accessed September 29),... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The September 14 attack on the Saudi oil facilities at Buqayq and Khurais was allegedly committed by Yemen’s Houthi militants—although it was more likely carried out with Iranian assistance or even by Tehran itself. Indeed, the Saudi Ministry... MORE