Efforts to re-launch negotiations on Transnistria conflict-settlement, after a five-year breakdown, in the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, the United States, European Union, Chisinau, Tiraspol) collapsed on June 21 in Moscow. The meeting’s failure was almost preordained (see EDM, June 21). Russia and the OSCE... MORE

Negotiators are meeting in Moscow today (June 21) to re-launch the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, the United States, European Union, Chisinau, Tiraspol) for Transnistria conflict-settlement, after a five-year breakdown in the official negotiations. This meeting is expected to decide the resumption of official negotiations... MORE

At a press conference in the National Library of Belarus for central and regional media, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka denied that his country is in crisis. He defined the latter as a time when enterprises cease production, or else they lack raw materials, they cannot... MORE

Kyiv’s recent attempt to persuade Moscow to lower the price of gas for Ukraine proved to be a fiasco. Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, made it clear to his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov on June 7 that Moscow was happy with the current situation... MORE

On June 7 in Moscow, Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Nikolai Azarov held tense negotiations on the terms of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine. The government in Kyiv and its Donetsk-based industrial interests are seeking a second round of gas price-cutting, after that agreed in... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister, Mykola Azarov, looks set to sacrifice the economy for electoral considerations. Azarov is reluctant to meet the key conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to qualify for the continuation of its $15 billion assistance program: domestic gas price hikes and... MORE

Belarusian President, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, is a man under pressure. Assailed by Western powers for his harsh treatment of former presidential candidates and protestors, he also faces mounting economic problems that have led to the devaluation of the national currency. At the same time, high rates... MORE

Moscow and Berlin converge in asking Chisinau to give up the 2005 law on Transnistria conflict-resolution principles, renounce the unitary character of the state, and (backstage) to move toward federalizing Moldova (EDM, June 6, 8). Chisinau may well face such demands on June 21 in... MORE

(Part Two) In the context of Russo-German special relations, the German government proposes to restart international negotiations on the Transnistria conflict from a modified basis, one largely favorable to Russian interests. On this issue, Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements a policy that originates in... MORE

On June 1, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fired the deputy prime minister in charge of utilities and construction, Viktor Tikhonov, and his deputy, Yury Khyvrych. The two were dismissed not for the government’s failure to reform the utility sector, which would have been more logical,... MORE