The joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2017 war games, which ran during September 14–20, inspired a wide-ranging debate about the nature and geopolitical realities of Belarusian statehood and independence. Thus, according to the Belarusian military analyst Alexander Alesin, the Kremlin had evinced utmost irritation with Minsk because,... MORE

The Russian government recently announced a hike in excise duties on ga­soline. The overall retail price will increase by more than a ruble per liter (6.5¢/gallon), or by around 2.5 percent of its current market price, by the end of the next year (Ekho Moskvy,... MORE

The joint strategic Russian-Belarusian military exercise Zapad 2017 (“West” 2017), which took place on September 14–20, is worth studying in detail because of what it reveals about Moscow’s likely military operations in the westward direction in the event of a regional crisis. At the same... MORE

The party of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, United National Movement (UNM), has begun actively preparing for local elections, scheduled for October 21. Its first major action, which caused a big response, was a rally in downtown Tbilisi, at the central office of Cartu Bank,... MORE

Nothing is eternal under the moon. Indeed, Belarusian attitudes toward Russia, the country’s meaningful other, are visibly shifting. Similarly, international opinions of Belarus’s national leader are currently exhibiting signs of change. Even the Belarusian opposition is now undergoing a transformation of sorts. Russia’s commanding position... MORE

On September 20, The Kharkiv City Council sent an appeal, addressed to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman, regarding concerns over recent actions by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Specifically, the appeal cites a draft bulletin allegedly sent by the EASA to the Ukrainian State... MORE

Ukraine has placed 15-year Eurobonds in the amount of $3 billion, President Petro Poroshenko announced on September 18. Poroshenko, who was on a visit to New York at the time for the United Nations General Assembly, noted that Ukraine had never borrowed so much for... MORE

The attendance of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session (September 12–25, 2017) highlighted the importance Kyiv places on the draft resolution it submitted to the UN calling for an international peacekeeping mission in Donbas. Indirectly reacting to Poroshenko’s... MORE

The Zapad 2017 military exercise is officially over. Russian tank and airborne (VDV) units are being withdrawn from Belarus as well as Kaliningrad, Leningrad and Pskov oblasts, and moved back to their permanent bases (Militarynews.ru, September 22). On October 1, the autumn call-up of some... MORE

In the first half of 2017, Belarus’s economy finally overcame its 2.5-year-long downward trend (EurasiaExpert, August 31). Thus, Belarus’s gross domestic product (GDP) has increased 1 percent compared with the first half of 2016. Industrial output increased 6.1 percent and retail sales—0.7 percent. In the... MORE