Russia’s efforts to ameliorate its energy sector by pursuing international partnerships suffered a sensitive setback as a planned mega-deal ended in an apparent failure.Plans of Russia’s largest oil firm Rosneft to implement a share swap agreement with BP failed to materialize. Until mid-May, BP and... MORE

On May 26, the Kyrgyz parliament voted to declare Finish diplomat Kimmo Kiljunen and leader of the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission’s (KIC) investigation as persona non grata. By doing so, 95 MPs (out of 120) who voted for the resolution, have demonstrated an incapacity to handle... MORE

The US State Department on March 26 designated the Caucasus Emirate under Presidential Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists, terrorist organizations or acts of terrorism. The State Department said in a statement that the action would “help stem the... MORE

Some 500 demonstrators in a makeshift camp, many of them carrying long sticks and wearing masks, defied police calls to end an unlawful rally on the night of May 25 – 26 in downtown Tbilisi. The police preempted the militants’ declared intention to use violence... MORE

The term “jamaat,” considered native to the North Caucasus in view of the operations undertaken there by the armed resistance, is clearly spreading beyond the region’s borders. The Russian special forces recently did not even attempt to hide the existence of an Islamic underground cell... MORE

On May 12, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained the Israeli military attaché in Moscow, Col. Vadim Leiderman, accused him of spying and expelled him within 48 hours. Leiderman, a former IDF pilot, immigrated to Israel in 1977 from Soviet Moldova at the age of... MORE

Moscow has stimulated the radical opposition’s actions in Tbilisi (see EDM, May 24), and stands ready to exploit the unrest. Russian state television channels provide sympathetic, over-dramatized coverage of the street action in Tbilisi, for playback to Georgian audiences. Moscow portrays the violence-prone militants as... MORE

Armenia has decided to almost triple the number of its troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led multinational mission operating there under NATO’s aegis. The decision is a further indication that the South Caucasus state is continuing to seek closer security ties with... MORE

On May 22, the Russian security services killed one of the leaders of the Kabardino-Balkarian insurgency, Buzhigit Khadzhiev (aka “Musa, the emir of the northwestern front”). Magomed Zalikhanov, dubbed by the law enforcement agencies as an active supporter of the rebels, was also killed in... MORE

Ukraine has sent Russia a clear signal that it is unconvinced it would benefit from membership in the Russian-dominated customs union more than from free trade with the European Union. The Ukrainian parliament instructed the government to prioritize the association and free trade talks with... MORE