Following Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem’s September 9 visit to Moscow at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (https://kommersant.ru/doc/2275019), the issue of the involvement of Chechens in the Syrian war once again came to the fore.At a press conference, Muallem insisted that his... MORE

The agreement between Russia and the United States to destroy the Syrian arsenal of chemical weapons was signed in Geneva last weekend on September 14, after several days of strenuous negotiations between delegations led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State... MORE

On September 13, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its 13th session of the Council of Heads of State, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in a bid to strengthen cooperation on pressing security and economic challenges. The parties signed the Bishkek Declaration, calling for a joint struggle... MORE

On September 2, a key figure in the Russian government, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, visited Tatarstan. After watching a presentation on the republic’s educational reforms, modeled on the Singapore school system that is renowned worldwide for its success, Shuvalov noted that “the benefits of... MORE

“Complementarity,” the term purportedly denoting Armenia’s policy of balance between Russia and the West, has reached the end of the road, and that end is Russia. Long assumed to be the guiding principle of Armenia’s foreign policy, “complementarity” has lost any meaning with Armenia’s decision... MORE

Considerable international media attention on the Syria crisis focused on the apparently deft handling of the diplomatic track by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Yet, Russian diplomacy, which succeeded in presenting Moscow as a critical player in the pursuit of a non-military option against Damascus, also... MORE

Several days ago (September 10), reconstruction and expansion works at the Verkhny Lars border checkpoint were completed. The checkpoint, located in Georgia’s Kazbegi district on the highway historically known as the Georgian Military Road, is the only legally functioning border crossing between Russia and Georgia.... MORE

The chairman of the Solidarity Committee of World Circassians, Nusret Bas, recently handed over a petition of Circassian refugees from Syria to the Russian consul in Istanbul, Alexei Yerkhov. The appeal was prepared on behalf of 146 Circassian refugees residing in the southern Turkish city... MORE

During the last week (see EDM, September 12), the diplomatic dance around Syria has acquired the intensity of a whirling dervish, but the civil war continues very much as usual. This disconnect answers perfectly the ambitions of President Vladimir Putin, who has managed to make... MORE

Six months prior to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which will be the most expensive games in the history of the Olympics, Russia has started to make arrangements to prevent terrorist attacks. It is estimated that the Sochi Olympics will cost over $54 billion (https://ria.ru/sport/20130904/960603898.html)... MORE