Latest Articles about Russia
‘Historical’ Presidential Elections in Georgia
The first round of presidential elections, held in Georgia on October 28, did not reveal a winner. The candidate from the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, former French ambassador to Tbilisi Salome Zurabishvili, and her main opponent, former foreign minister Grigory Vashadze, representing the United... MORE
Russia’s Connection to Saudi Arabia Intensifies
Even without the enormous scandal of the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi hit men allegedly operating under state auspices, late October 2018 has been especially eventful for Saudi Arabia. In particular, Riyadh announced two major investments into Russian funds (RT, October 23;... MORE
Turkey, Russia Resurrect a ‘Concert of Europe’ to Resolve Syrian Crisis
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
Russia’s Network-Centric Warfare Capability: Tried and Tested in Syria
Since initiating the reform of the Russian Armed Forces in 2008, Moscow has paid close attention to the development of its own network-centric warfare capability. Elements of this version of network-centric approaches to combat operations have involved strengthening electronic warfare (EW) capacity, modernizing infrastructure, reforming... MORE
Minsk Resisting Moscow’s Latest Scheme to Acquire Military Base in Belarus
A serious conflict has arisen between Moscow and Minsk over a proposed joint military defense strategy document. The Russian side declares that it will treat any attack on Belarus as an attack on itself (see EDM, October 23) and thus needs to have a Russian... MORE
Lev Dengov: Ramzan Kadyrov’s Middleman in Libya
On October 10, Russian diplomat and a key middleman between Russia and post-2011 Libya, Lev Dengov, officially dismissed accusations by several Western information outlets that Moscow was militarily involved in the most recent outbreak of violence in this war-torn North African country. Specifically, reports pointed... MORE
Russia Reconsiders Consequences of INF Treaty Breakdown
News about the United States’ decision to withdraw from the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty produced the predictable explosion of propaganda commentary in Moscow. But by the end of last week, the feigned outrage had expired, and some sober second thoughts emerged. The Russian... MORE
Russia’s Domestic Airline Sector on the Brink of Complete Collapse
A series of Russian policies have already led several of the country’s regional airline carriers to go out of business and threaten to shutter even more. Specifically, Moscow has ended most subsidies to air carriers, closed the vast majority of regional airports, raised fares, and... MORE
Russia Prepares to Make the Best of Scrapped INF Treaty
The United States’ National Security Advisor John Bolton arrived in Moscow on October 22, shortly after President Donald Trump announced Washington would withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. Bolton met Russia’s main national security and defense figures, including National Security Council Secretary... MORE
Rising Profile of Russian-Language Schooling in Azerbaijan: Inferiority, Opportunity or Challenge?
During his latest visit to Azerbaijan, on September 27 (see EDM, October 1, 12), President Vladimir Putin said that the main basis for the Russian language lies in the hearts and minds of people. He also mentioned that he and his Azerbaijani counterpart, President Ilham... MORE