
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Efforts Underway To Reanimate Negotiations On The Transnistria Conflict (Part One)
The establishment of the European Union’s External Action Service, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) chairmanship by Lithuania, and the electoral success of Moldova’s pro-European governing coalition, are cumulatively energizing international efforts to unblock the negotiations on the Transnistria conflict. These converging... MORE

Russia’s New Model Army: “Mobilization Reserves”
A key feature in the reform of Russia’s conventional armed forces was the concept of “permanent readiness,” built around forming permanently combat ready brigades, fully manned, and jettisoning the old cadre or skeleton units. On February 10, the Chief of the General Staff, Army-General Nikolai... MORE

Turkish-Armenian Accords Pronounced Dead By Yerevan
Armenia has announced the effective demise of its Western-backed rapprochement with Turkey, which could see relations between the two historical enemies sink to a new low. Yerevan has accused Ankara of “ruining” the normalization agreements signed by the two governments in October 2009 and threatened... MORE

Kabardino-Balkaria’s Panic-Stricken Government Seeks Increased Security Assistance From Moscow
During a visit to Kabardino-Balkaria on February 9, Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, tried to reassure the region’s government and public of Moscow’s support against the growing insurgency in the beleaguered republic. At a meeting with a group of 200 students in... MORE

Moscow Learns to Play by Asia-Pacific Rules
The visit to Moscow by Japan’s Foreign Minister, Seiji Maehara, on February 11 did not lessen the diplomatic row between Russia and Japan that acquired a spectacular character during the last two weeks (RIA Novosti, Kommersant, February 12). The Kremlin appeared prepared rather than perplexed... MORE

Made In Germany For Russia’s Army
Germany is joining a scramble among West-European producers of military equipment for Russian orders. NATO and the United States are silent bystanders to this growing trend, which challenges the Alliance’s defense posture and planning, as well as the US’s hitherto trend-setting role in the Alliance.On... MORE

LNG Projects In Latvia And Lithuania Can BE Mutually Compatible
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia are each planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) reception terminal with a re-gasification plant on their Baltic littorals at Swinoujscie, Klaipeda, and near Riga, respectively. These projects can break Gazprom’s monopoly in the three Baltic States and Poland, creating... MORE

Insurgency-related violence reported in Dagestan, Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria
In a sign of the degree to which the security situation in parts of the North Caucasus has deteriorated, Russia’s railway system has ordered that passenger trains will no longer travel through Chechnya and Dagestan at night.A source in the press service of Russian Railways... MORE

A Long Way to Zero: Moscow Remains Reluctant to Take the Next Step
With the ratification of the START III agreement by the Russian Duma and Federation Council in addition to its signing by President, Dmitry Medvedev, the treaty reached the final stage of becoming a binding agreement for the two major nuclear powers involved. The formal exchange... MORE

Major Russian TV Channel Sidelined in Kyrgyzstan
On February 8, a Kyrgyz parliamentary committee proceeded with naming a 4,446-meter peak in honor of Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, as a sign of respect and gratitude for his policy towards Bishkek (www.news.ru, February 8). That same day, however, Russia’s ORT (First channel) was... MORE