The ceasefire agreements, signed on September 5 and 19–20, have, in no sense, halted Russia’s multi-dimensional war against Ukraine. This includes a still-“hot” military conflict and a “cold” propaganda war. Nor could these agreements stop Russia from prosecuting the conflict in the absence of effective... MORE

Since Russia occupied Crimea with its strategically important naval port and the Russian military base in Sevastopol this past February (UNIAN, February 27), life there has become increasingly dangerous for those who do not share the political views of the Russian leadership. It was the... MORE

On September 30, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the fall 2014 Russian military draft. The government is expected to draft 154,100 men, the same number as in the spring 2014 draft campaign. The Russian laws on the draft will be extended to newly-annexed... MORE

The September national survey by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS), the most trusted Belarusian polling firm, headquartered in Lithuania, shows that both the electoral rating of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and public trust vested in him have gone up. Whereas in June,... MORE

Reiterating statements he made this past summer, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka instructed his government, on September 23, to create a highly mobile and advanced military equipped with modern, domestically-produced arms and vehicles. The seriousness with which Belarus’s head of state considers this task was unambiguous;... MORE

Russian ties with Japan have clearly suffered serious damage due to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. Apparently, there will not be a visit by Russian President Putin to Japan anytime soon, despite previous wishes for such a trip by both sides (Asahi Shimbun AJW, September 24).... MORE

Addressing an international investment forum in Moscow yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted an unusually restrained tone toward Ukraine. In effect, Putin seems to suggest a framework for political dialogue toward stabilizing Russia-Ukraine relations (kremlin.ru, Interfax, October 2). Putin’s salient propositions are: 1) “It is... MORE

The armistice, slowly taking hold in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces (collectively known as the Donbas region), basically consigns parts of those territories to Russia’s military and political control, both directly and through local proxies. Facing Russia one-on-one, on the battlefield as well as in... MORE

As a result of the confluence of two developments, one welcome and encouraging and the other dangerous and worrisome, the airline that had maintained a route between Simerfopol (the capital of Crimea) and Turkey is ending that service. Andrey Sokolov, the Russian deputy minister for... MORE

Russia has been threating those European states that have continued to deliver natural gas to Ukraine after Russia has cut its own supplies to the vulnerable Eastern European country. More recently, some progress has been made in the Russia-Ukraine gas talks being mediated by the... MORE