After 112 years, Russia's military presence in the Pamir Mountains ended on December 5. Russia's flag was lowered, and that of Tajikistan raised, on the Kala-i-Khum fort on the Tajik-Afghan border, where Russian troops are handing responsibility over to Tajik border guards. Similar ceremonies were... MORE

Under Russian pressure, Abkhaz presidential election winner Sergei Bagapsh agreed on December 5 to postpone his inauguration, which had been scheduled for December 6, and to discuss a power-sharing deal with the loser, Kremlin-supported ex-KGB officer Raul Khajimba. Russia's First Deputy Prosecutor General, Vladimir Kolesnikov,... MORE

The brief excitement created by President Vladimir Putin's mid-November announcement that the Russian government would be prepared to honor the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration (pledging to return two disputed islands to Japan) has evaporated as quickly as it appeared. The brief meeting between Putin and Japanese... MORE

On December 1, Russia's government introduced a set of blockade measures against Abkhazia for the declared purpose of preventing the inauguration of president-elect Sergei Bagapsh, victor over the Moscow-backed candidate Raul Khajimba in Abkhazia's October 3 presidential election. Gennady Bukayev, an aide to Russian Prime... MORE

Central Asian political leaders are watching events in Kyiv closely, as the Ukrainian crisis may affect the future foreign policy choices they make between the West and Russia. Meetings of the CIS Defense Ministers Council, at the Staff for Coordinating Military Cooperation in Moscow on... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin engages in political and diplomatic battles over Ukraine as if it is his personal Stalingrad. Many liberal or just moderately independent commentators in Moscow argue that there was no need for him to take such a one-sided position and that the... MORE

Russia's Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev has appealed for the fight against terrorism in Russia to transcend military and security structures and include psychological, ideological, and economic means. Speaking in Moscow on November 26, Nurgaliev explained that the struggle against terrorism within the Russian Federation must... MORE

On November 26, in Italy's Bay of Taranto, the Russian Black Sea Fleet's destroyer Smetlivyi and frigate Pytlivyi conducted a one-day joint exercise with two units from NATO's Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED): the U.S. Navy's destroyer Mahan and the Greek frigate Bouboulina. The event,... MORE

The October crisis in the North Caucasus republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia continues, but the authorities have managed to mitigate the problem somewhat. On November 11, when angry demonstrators took over the Government Palace, Dmitry Kozak, Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Southern Federal District, met... MORE

Russia's investment climate is undergoing profound changes, but expert opinions about the direction of these changes differ far more than traditional quarrels between economic schools should warrant. In mid-November Fitch Ratings awarded Russia one extra step and thus raised its rating to investment level (Kommersant,... MORE