On September 20, Crimean Tatars launched a nonviolent protest action that they have named the “Citizens’ Blockade of Crimea” to suspend the transfer of goods from mainland Ukraine to the occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula. The peaceful blockade is taking place at Kalanchak, Chongar... MORE

On September 25, Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission (EC), which has been acting as a mediator in the energy talks between Moscow and Kyiv, agreed on new terms for Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine from October 2015 until March 2016. EC Vice President Maros... MORE

On September 26, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka arrived in New York to take part in the 70th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. His speech is expected on September 29. Upon arrival, Lukashenka met with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the... MORE

On September 16, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree introducing sanctions against 105 firms and 388 individuals, mainly from Russia, for supporting the annexation of Crimea and the war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas (President.gov.ua, September 16). The decree came into effect... MORE

On September 19, following his one-on-one meeting in Sochi with Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin issued an order to launch negotiations with Belarus about the creation of a new Russian airbase near Bobruisk (Tut.by, September 19). Vigorous discussion in Belarus, this past... MORE

At Russia’s initiative, the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline project has advanced from agreements of intent to a binding agreement; and Gazprom has formed the project consortium with several major European energy companies. Planned to connect Russia with Germany through the Baltic Sea by... MORE

On September 10, four presidential candidates were registered by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Belarus. Aside from the incumbent, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, these are: Tatyana Korotkevich, from the Speak the Truth campaign; Sergei Gaidukevich, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party; and Nikolay Ulakhovich, a... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. According to the European Union’s Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, Ukraine is a “reliable transit country,” while Nord Stream Two does not help diversify supply sources, hence “it is not a... MORE

Two countries on opposite ends of Eurasia are drawing closer, courtesy of the skein of railways slowly snaking across this massive region in the form of an evolving “Iron Silk Road.” While attending Chinese commemorations of the end of World War II in the Pacific,... MORE

The government in Minsk has long claimed that Belarus’s socioeconomic stability is its major achievement. Indeed, from 1996 to 2014, it experienced positive GDP growth every year, and its living standards were on the rise. However, the conflict in Ukraine ultimately converted this idea of... MORE