
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Russia’s Third Front: Mounting Anxiety Over Afghanistan
With most of the military forces of the United States and the North Atlantic Organization (NATO) having departed Afghanistan, Russia has grown increasingly anxious about a possible deterioration of the regional security situation. As 2014 ended, Moscow flatly called NATO’s Afghanistan policy a failure (Pajhwok... MORE

Ichkerian Commander Isa Munaev Killed in Eastern Ukraine
The death of one of the most famous Ichkerian generals from the two wars in Chechnya, Isa Munaev on February 1, again drew public attention to the involvement of Chechens in the conflict in eastern Ukraine (Echo.msk.ru, February 2). Munaev arrived in Ukraine and led... MORE

Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande Attempt to Mediate Between Russia and Ukraine
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande conferred during the night of February 5–6 with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv. The three leaders and their advisory teams discussed a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin for an armistice in Ukraine, and a... MORE

Lukashenka’s Marathon Press Conference in Minsk
On January 29, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka gave his regular press conference for domestic and international media (Tut.by, January 29). This time it lasted more than seven hours, during which Lukashenka consumed five cups of green tea. It was the first such event staged at... MORE

Chechen Leader Once Again Demonstrates His Unique Role in Putin’s Russia
According to experts, for a long time only two or three regional politicians in Russia could play an important role at the federal level—two of them being the mayor of Moscow and the president of Tatarstan (Carnegie.ru, January 22). Leaders of the North Caucasus republics... MORE

Russia’s War in Ukraine Sinks the Minsk Negotiations (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The breakdown of the Minsk negotiations process (see Part One in EDM, February 4) had become obvious even before its final collapse on January 31. Moscow, along with the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR” and “LPR,” respectively)... MORE

Russian Military Command Sees Need to Counter Growing Western Threat
The continuing bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine and the deepening crisis in relations with the West has prompted the Russian military to alter its defense development plans. A financial and economic crisis, caused by a steep fall in oil prices and Western punitive sanctions, is... MORE

Armenia and NATO Reaffirm Their Cooperation
On January 15, the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan received James Appathurai, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia. They expressed satisfaction with the fact that Armenia’s relations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are developing normally, and there is... MORE

NATO Intends to Open Special Training Center in Georgia
Before the end of 2015, a joint Training and Evaluation Center will open in Georgia under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), within the framework of the substantial package of cooperation that was granted to the country at the Alliance’s September 2014... MORE

Russian Orthodox Church Tries to Keep Ethnic Russians in Chechnya and Dagestan
Ethnic Russians are leaving the North Caucasus, and the prospects for restoring ethnic-Russian communities in the republics are dim despite the authorities’ efforts. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians fled Chechnya following years of war and instability. Economic and political upheavals forced most ethnic Russians... MORE