Russia has staged “republic“-level “elections” in Donetsk and Luhansk for the second time in four years, establishing a regular quadrennial electoral cycle there. This move is designed to perpetuate the “republics” de facto, institutionalizing them more firmly and exploiting a murky situation of undefined status... MORE

The United States’ Federal Register published the “Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations” on November 5, re-imposing US sanctions on Iran (Federalregister.gov, November 5). This expected action by Washington had raised concerns in Baku about the potential implications of renewed Iran sanctions on Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-II... MORE

Nearly a hundred members of the European Parliament (MEP) sent an open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on November 7, imploring her to halt the construction of the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline. The MEPs referred to the pipeline—designed to carry an additional... MORE

Ukraine’s presidential campaign is in full swing. Five months out from the election (the first round is scheduled for March 31), it remains entirely unclear who the next head of state will be. Yet, the likeliest contenders are incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former prime... MORE

Italy and Russia signed 13 deals worth $1.7 billion during last month’s (October 23–24) visit to Moscow by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (TASS, La Stampa, October 24). He and Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the two countries enjoyed solid trade and investment relations,... MORE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted a summit in Istanbul, on October 27, which brought together President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. The four European leader gathered to try to formulate a solution to the Syrian... MORE

The Latvian Russian Union (LKS) and Headquarters for the Protection of Russian Schools (HPRS) organized a demonstration in the capital city of Riga, on September 15. The publicized goal of the event was to “prevent educational reform in Latvia, which will lead to a total... MORE

In late August, the Ukrainian magazine Tizhden published excerpts from a book by the former president of France, François Hollande, Les Leçons de Pouvoir (The Lessons of Power). The passages touch upon Hollande’s impressions of the night of February 11/12, 2015, which he spent in... MORE

The war in Ukraine’s east was the topic that Merkel placed at the top of her remarks at the August 18 Berlin-Meseberg meeting with Putin (see Part One). Putin relegated this topic to the end of his remarks, as if to confirm Russia’s current tactic... MORE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel uncharacteristically interrupted her summer vacation to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 18, 2018, at Meseberg Castle, near Berlin. It was the second Merkel-Putin meeting within three months. Their meeting in Sochi last May triggered a flurry of bilateral German-Russian... MORE