*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. Russia’s interests in Belarus at this stage may be categorized as status quo–oriented interests and those going beyond the status quo; the latter category clearly prevails in the political, institutional, and... MORE

Global warming—which left the Northern Sea Route ice-free this year for longer than at any point in recorded history (Barents Observer, October 7)—is prompting Moscow to devote ever more attention to security issues in that region relative to trade along a route Russia has traditionally... MORE

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s recent lengthy interview (Komsomolskaya Pravda, October 14) stirred deep concerns in the Republic of Moldova. Local media outlets underlined, in particular, Lavrov’s accusation that the United States is attempting to create “an abscess” in Moldova by pushing for the total... MORE

The virtual meeting of the Russian Security Council last Friday (October 16) started with a surprise meant to signify a major foreign policy initiative. Namely, President Vladimir Putin instructed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to present to the leadership of the United States with the suggestion... MORE

On July 29, the Russian government issued an order concerning plans for the development of federal transport, railway, information and communications infrastructure that includes the construction of Port Lagan, in the Republic of Kalmykia (Portnews.ru, August 3). The idea to establish a port in Kalmykia... MORE

The poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny caused an uproar in the international community, even leading to debates inside Germany about whether to punish Moscow by canceling the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline (see EDM, September 21). While the fate of Gazprom’s multi-billion-dollar... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Regime change via constitutional reform is Moscow’s chosen avenue toward its goal in Belarus: turning the country into a satellite of Russia, stopping short of outright incorporation (see Part One in EDM, October 15). At this stage, however,... MORE

Russia is not pursuing an “Anschluss” with Belarus. Rather, it aims to curtail Belarus’s external and internal sovereignty in the foreign policy, military, economic, and domestic institutional realms, stopping short of a political union of Russia and Belarus. The outcome would not amount to an... MORE

The Russian state TV propaganda machine continues to ridicule Democratic Party presidential contender Joseph Biden and promoting the incumbent, Donald Trump, portrayed as strong and full of energy after overcoming his bout with the COVID-19 coronavirus (Vesti, October 13). The message to the Russian public... MORE

At the beginning of October 2020, the Akademik Cherskiy—the only Russian pipe-laying ship capable of completing the construction of the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline—began its sea trials following five-month-long upgrades at the German port of Mukran. According to reports, the current phase of... MORE