At the annual St. Petersburg Economic Forum last week (June 1–3), President Vladimir Putin repeatedly rejected accusations of Russian covert meddling in the 2016 United States presidential election (see EDM, June 5). Putin defended the Russian ambassador in Washington, Sergei Kislyak, who did apparently meet... MORE

The Georgian coastal city of Batumi hosted, on May 23, a trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia (Azertac, May 23). This trilateral cooperation format was inaugurated in 2012, during a ministerial meeting in Trabzon, Turkey. As expected, a new military... MORE

On May 30, troops from Russia and Tajikistan launched Dushanbe-Anti-Terror-2017—the final stage of a six-part exercise held in six different countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus, which began on May 23 (Avesta, May 24). Involving 2,000 personnel, the exercises concluded on June 1. Military... MORE

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree, on May 15, introducing a new package of sanctions against Russian companies and individuals (President.gov.ua, May 15). However, it was the decision to block two extremely popular Russian online social networks—Vkontakte (VK) and Odnoklassniki, embraced by more than... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin made another trip to China last month (May 14–15) to address the Belt and Road Forum. But his speech at the summit’s opening highlighted that Russia and Chi­na ascribe completely different meaning to Beijing’s ambitious One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.... MORE

Numerous gloomy forecasts predict that the overall condition of the Russian economy and the challenges stemming from the sanctions regime will set limitations on Russia’s defense spending and negatively impact its military modernization. Nevertheless, it seems the Russian Ministry of Defense expects the good times... MORE

With the encouragement of the Moscow media, many in Russia and the West assume that Russian Cossacks are entirely behind Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, that they are the group the Kremlin can count on as its janissaries against any opponent, and that there is... MORE

The Polish Ministry of National Defense (MoND) has expressed interest in acquiring next-generation main battle tanks (MBT) for the country’s ground forces. On May 30, the MoND’s Armament Inspectorate issued a call to domestic and international arms manufacturers to submit offers for consideration. The document... MORE

“I do not know whom we should ask: [magicians David] Copperfield or [Zurab] Vadachkoria? How can it happen that a person disappears from point A and appears at point B?” wondered Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili, on June 2, in response to reports about the puzzling... MORE

Since Moscow’s military intervention in the Syrian civil war began in September 2015, a key element of Russian logistical support for its forces has been a maritime supply route deployed from southern Russian Black Sea ports via the Turkish Straits to Syria. This supply train,... MORE