Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to Azerbaijan on December 2–3. This came after his November 11 Yerevan visit, which caused an uproar in Baku due to Lavrov’s reference to the ethnic-Armenian population in Karabakh as the “people of Nagorno-Karabakh” and his oblique suggestion of... MORE

On November 27, in an interview on Georgian television, the country’s de facto leader—the chairperson of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Georgia’s sole billionaire, Bidzina Ivanishvili—denounced American non-governmental organizations (NGO), including the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Specifically, Ivanishvili... MORE

On August 23, 2019, Georgian national and former Chechen rebel commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili (40) was fired on by an assailant on a bicycle, in a Berlin public park. Khangoshvili died on the spot, shot twice in the head. German police quickly apprehended the suspected killer... MORE

On November 30, at the Biltmore Hotel, in Tbilisi, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the opposition held their first round of negotiations over how to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis (Interpressnews.ge, November 30). Five former speakers of the Georgian parliament participated in... MORE

Russia has long counted on its geographic location between the Asia-Pacific region and Europe to cement its relationship with China. However, Beijing increasingly views Russia as merely a supplier of raw materials (Svobodnaya Pressa, April 27)—a view reinforced anew on Monday (December 2), by the... MORE

On November 7, at 3:30 A.M., a westbound train from Xi’an, China, for the first time ever used Istanbul’s $4 billion Marmaray sub-Bosporus railway tunnel to dispatch goods to central Europe (Haber.sol.org.tr, November 7). The train’s voyage represents another of China’s attempts to shave time... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently paid their first visits to Armenia since the 2018 “Velvet Revolution.” Shoigu visited Armenia on October 29, just before traveling to Baku to participate in a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) defense ministerial. While... MORE

On November 17, thousands of opposition party activists gathered in front of the Georgian parliament building, on Rustaveli Avenue, where the “Rose Revolution” took place in 2003. The main demands of last Sunday’s “National Opposition Rally” included the resignation of the government of Giorgi Gakharia,... MORE

The Georgian authorities, with the help of their colleagues from the United States and Europe, are investigating a powerful cyberattack that struck the South Caucasus country on October 28. Experts say that the latest cyberattack was much more powerful than the one Georgia experienced in... MORE

Given the instability of the North Caucasus in general and Dagestan in particular, violence there seldom attracts much attention these days. But a new clash between villagers in Meusisha and officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and riot police (OMON)—combined with other developments in... MORE