Prime Minister Vladimir Putin decided to terminate the pretense of being officially second in command in Russia and announced that he will replace President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin. At a congress of the ruling United Russia party in Moscow, Medvedev also announced he will... MORE

To reduce its dependence on expensive Russian natural gas, Ukraine proposes to import Azerbaijani liquefied natural gas (LNG) via Georgia and across the Black Sea to Ukraine. Recent gas discoveries in Azerbaijan, and the reactivation of the Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan gas pipeline project, encourage a growing number... MORE

The Kremlin-orchestrated Tsentr-2011 military exercises of the Collective Security Organization Treaty (CSTO), hosted simultaneously by Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan and lasting almost one week, served for Astana not only as a litmus test of its combat capabilities. Most importantly, the exercises provided an opportunity... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin near Moscow on September 24 in a last-ditch attempt to persuade the ruling tandem to lower gas prices for Ukraine. The officials involved have avoided saying anything specific about... MORE

On September 24, besides the sensational-albeit-expected news that Vladimir Putin will return to the Russian presidency in 2012, the United Russia party’s conference unveiled its list of candidates for the next parliamentary elections. Out of 601 people on the list, 44 candidates to the Russian... MORE

Baku expects three gas transportation consortiums to submit competing bids by October for the gas production of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field, Phase Two. The rival projects are Nabucco (Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria, potentially reaching Germany), ITGI (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy), and TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, linking Turkey via Greece and Albania... MORE

Amidst growing concerns about the escalation of Turkish-Israeli tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Ankara’s decision to undertake seismic exploration for oil and gas – in retaliation for the Greek Cypriot administration’s ongoing exploration activities – further raised tensions in the region. Recently, the Greek Cypriots... MORE

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development has issued a bleak prognosis for the economic future of Belarus, anticipating that the country will enter a period of recession in 2012, which will be followed by gradual recovery in future years (www.naviny.by, September 24). The report contrasts... MORE

The highlight of the combat training year for the Russian armed forces, conducting the operational-strategic exercise Tsentr 2011, illustrates the experimental nature of the numerous contradictory reform aspirations and the weakness of the country’s conventional military. Tsentr 2011, staged in seven training ranges in southern... MORE

On September 22 in Moscow, participants in international negotiations on the Transnistria conflict announced their collective intention to re-launch official negotiations after a five-year breakdown. This means that Russia and Tiraspol authorities have finally stopped refusing to engage in negotiations, although they continue to set... MORE