In recent months, traditionally isolationist Turkmenistan has begun to make efforts to open up more to the outside world. As a result, intense competition has ensued among key actors, including Russia, China and the United States, for access to Turkmenistan’s transportation routes and energy resources... MORE

Both candidates in the second round of the May 14 elections for the head of the Gagauz autonomy in Moldova were pro-Russian; and consequently, it was inevitable that a pro-Moscow figure would receive the most votes. But as the one who did, Yevgenia Gutsul of... MORE

While the Ukrainian Armed Forces actively prepare for their much-anticipated counteroffensive, which is expected to occur as soon as this summer according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal (Hromadske.ua, April 12), Kyiv has launched unprecedented sabotage operations in close cooperation with the Ukrainian resistance within... MORE

On April 23, Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint along the Lachin road—the so-called “Miatsum road” (“unification road”)—can be considered the most significant tactical achievement for Baku since the end of the Second Karabakh War in 2020. Overall, the purpose of this checkpoint is to grant... MORE

Since the end of December 2022, all clients of Georgian banks, both Georgians themselves and foreigners, have received messages with a formidable warning that, if their deposits and accounts are used to violate Western financial sanctions against Russia, these accounts will be blocked without any... MORE

On May 11, Turkish opposition candidate Muharren Ince announced that he was dropping out of the upcoming presidential elections, allegedly due to, in his words, a “smear campaign” that is “the work of the Gülenist Terror Group” (Daily Sabah, May 11). As one of four... MORE

The published Pentagon’s leaks in April 2023 coupled with additional evidence of the growing deficit in arms for the Russian Armed Forces, from the pathetic Victory Day’s parade on Red Square to the confirmation of arms supplies being delivered from Iran and South Africa in... MORE

As Turkmenistan has been closed off from the rest of the world for most of the period since 1991 and as Ashgabat’s commitment to neutrality has meant that it is not a participant in many multilateral forums, Turkmenistan frequently has been ignored in discussions about... MORE

According to the decree on May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that, from May 15 on, the visa regime for citizens of Georgia visiting Russia (which was introduced back in 2001 under the rule of President Eduard Shevardnadze) has been canceled (BBC News Russian,... MORE

Like Russia, Belarus maintains the Soviet tradition of the so-called subbotniks, days of volunteer unpaid work on weekends. During the subbotnik on April 22, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka planted trees at the Khatyn national memorial. Grigory Azaryonak, a Belarusian television personality, participated as well. Azaryonak... MORE