Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
Non-Bloc Status Covers Ukraine’s Shift to Russian-Vector Orientation
Opening, alongside Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, the Interstate Commission’s session, Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, turned the clock back to 1990. Invoking that year’s declaration of Ukraine’s sovereignty (still within the USSR), Yanukovych selectively underscored the document’s stipulation of “non-bloc status” for Ukraine. The country can... MORE
Medvedev’s Second Visit Pulls Ukraine Closer to Russia
Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev’s, May 17-18 visit to Kyiv capped a ten-week campaign to lay the basis for “reintegrating” Ukraine with Russia. It was Medvedev’s seventh meeting with Ukraine’s new leaders since early March, not counting Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin’s, similar number of meetings... MORE
Russia Will Construct Turkey’s First Nuclear Power Plant
During Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev’s, visit to Ankara last week, Turkey and Russia enhanced their multi-dimensional partnership by signing 17 agreements. Major deals concerned energy cooperation, which has been the driving force in bilateral relations. In what might be considered as the most substantial achievement... MORE
Medvedev Meets with Local NGO Leaders in Bid to Stabilize North Caucasus
On May 19, President Dmitry Medvedev had a unique meeting with North Caucasian NGO’s and Russian civil society activists who work on issues involving the region. The closed-door meeting lasted for nearly three hours. The main outcome for the civil society members appeared to be... MORE
Sergei Ivanov Seeks Deals in Washington
The Russian authorities are seeking a major détente with the West. A draft of a revised foreign policy doctrine was leaked and extracts published by Russky Newsweek in Moscow this month. The document was prepared by the foreign ministry and envisages closer political cooperation with... MORE
Soviet Chekists, Slavic Fist, and the Medvedev-Yanukovych Declaration on Transnistria
Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych, issued a joint declaration on the Transnistria conflict during Medvedev’s May 17 visit in Kyiv (www.kremlin.ru, May 17).The event fortuitously coincided with the Transnistria KGB’s anniversary celebrations in Tiraspol. Proposed by the Russians and accepted... MORE
Russia Pursues Post-Soviet Integration
In yet another bid to strengthen cooperation with the “near abroad,” Moscow has hosted informal summit meetings of the major post-Soviet groupings. However, the gatherings also served to highlight continued disagreements between some member states.On May 8, informal summits of the Collective Security Treaty Organization... MORE
Kremlin Contemplates a Seismic Shift in Russian Foreign Policy
Two conceptual strategy documents, one outlined in briefings by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and another “leaked” to Newsweek in Moscow appear to indicate that a seismic shift in the country’s foreign policy is under consideration. If this is implemented more fully, it will... MORE
Assassination Sparks Fear of Kremlin Plans to Incite Inter-Ethnic Violence in Karachay-Cherkessia
On May 12, the Circassian politician, Fral Shebzukhov, an advisor to President Ebzeyev of Karachay-Cherkessia was murdered in the republic’s capital of Cherkessk. Two men armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols approached him on the street shooting Shebzukhov at point blank range several times.... MORE
Northwestern Caucasus Security Worsens as Loyalist Circassians Ask Moscow for Help
On May 8 in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, the International Circassian Association (ICA) unveiled its plans to compile a list of Circassians scattered abroad who would like to be repatriated to their historical homeland in the North Caucasus. The association also decided to establish Circassian Flag Day... MORE