Presidents Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, Askar Akaev of Kyrgyzstan, Imomali Rahmonov of Tajikistan, and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan met on May 28 in Astana for the annual summit of the Central Asia Cooperation Organization (CACO). At Karimov’s initiative, summit leaders invited Russia to join CACO... MORE

Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, which had expressed some moderately phrased objections to Georgia’s anti-crime measures in South Ossetia on May 31, (see EMD, June 1) reverted to its familiar style yesterday. Two communiqués in rapid succession described Georgia’s actions as “provocations” -- a serious accusation... MORE

Human rights groups in Russia and in the West have reacted strongly to President Vladimir Putin's state of the nation speech last Wednesday, in which he darkly warned Russian civil society that it was too dependent on foreign money. Clearly, when Putin talked about civic... MORE

In Russia, a wrathful prosecutor declared his inability to sentence Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky to more than 10 years in prison, adding that miscreants still at large should bear this in mind. The guarantor of the Constitution - President Vladimir Putin - has not... MORE

The presidential address which Vladimir Putin delivered to the Federal Assembly on May 26 was bound to be anti-climatic. Wednesday's oration was overshadowed by more dramatic political events this spring, such as Putin's re-election as president in March and the firing of Prime Minister Mikhail... MORE

International naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, which begin on June 2, will see 15 European nations and the U.S. joined by the landing ship Kaliningrad and the escort vessel Neustrashimy, representing the Russian Baltic Fleet. These high-profile exercises will showcase the Baltic Fleet and... MORE

On May 25, head of the Interior Ministry's internal affairs department Konstantin Romodanovsky briefed Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev on the involvement of officers from the State Road Safety Inspectorate (GIBDD) in an auto-theft ring. Romodanovsky reported that as many as 100 people, including more than... MORE

An explosion took place in central Moscow on May 25, injuring seven passers by, none of them seriously. The blast, which was caused by an explosive device that had been attached to a lamppost on Zvengorodsky Chausee (Zvengorod Highway), slightly damaged a Saab 9000 standing... MORE

In a poll taken among inhabitants of Russia's 12 largest cities earlier this month, 26 percent of respondents said that they had experienced mistreatment at the hands of police, ranging from rudeness, red tape and inaction to extortion, unjustified arrest and violence. The poll was... MORE

At the Russia-European Union (EU) summit on May 21, President Putin surprised observers by promising to move ahead with ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 treaty under which developed nations pledge to bring their greenhouse gas emissions below the 1990 level by 2012. In... MORE