Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed large governmental delegations for bilateral talks on July 16 in Munich. The process, known as Russo-German inter-governmental consultations, involves informal semi-annual summits at which leading business representatives join the cabinet ministers on either side. The... MORE

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a one-day visit to Syria, which involved discussions on Turkey's mediator role between Israel and Syria. Erdogan and the Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed bilateral relations, regional developments and Turkey's peacemaking role in the region. Assad requested Turkey's mediating... MORE

The U.N.-led peace talks launched by the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and his Greek Cypriot counterpart Dimitris Christofias in September 2008 aiming to find a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem has entered a new phase. On July 20 at the Peace and... MORE

Whether by coincidence or design, Russian authorities are threatening to stop the Hungarian MOL company's oil extraction in Russia at the same time as Surgut Neftegaz appears to be forcing its way into MOL's ownership in Hungary (EDM, April 3, 6, 22, June 10, 24).... MORE

The inter-governmental agreement (IGA) on the Nabucco project, signed on July 13, depends existentially on Azerbaijan for start-up and first-phase gas supplies. Azerbaijan remains a staunch supporter of Nabucco and other components of the E.U.'s Southern Corridor project, but not an unconditional supporter to be... MORE

One traditional resource which Russia has valued beyond hydrocarbons and land is vodka, the nation's traditional moral and physical painkiller. Nikolai Kostomarov, a nineteenth century Russian historian, wrote that at the dawn of Russian history a feast was a major social event, with the goal... MORE

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the second review of its stabilization program for Ukraine on July 10. A visiting IMF delegation recommended that the IMF board grant Ukraine the third $3.3 billion tranche of the $16.4 billion stand-by loan. Kyiv received the previous two... MORE

Moscow and Beijing have hailed what they describe as a bilateral strategic partnership, but Russian and Chinese state-run energy companies struggle to agree to a compromise on energy prices. Both sides insisted that the visit by China's President Hu Juntao to Russia on June 16-18... MORE

The Russian word "dacha" loosely means "country house." The dacha concept, however, is much broader than that. It personifies both the Russian way of life, and the Russian dream, if there ever was one. Dachas come in different shapes and sizes, ranging from summer wooden... MORE

Ankara has reportedly finally given the green light to the Nabucco project, and the intergovernmental agreement might be signed on July 13. When the news broke on the Russian deal with Azerbaijan (EDM, July 2), the Turkish media initially suggested it represented a lethal blow... MORE