Executive Summary: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has led to a domestic fuel crisis, as Ukraine’s repeated drone strikes on oil facilities, as well as international sanctions, have constrained Russia’s largest industry. In September, Russia’s gasoline production fell by almost a quarter, forcing... MORE

Executive Summary: Growing investments by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline infrastructure are increasing its geopolitical influence in energy markets. PRC LNG re-exports have increased dramatically from 2022, with re-exports surging nearly 770 percent from 2024. Recent progress... MORE

Executive Summary: On October 6, Uzbekistan signed a 25-year, $100 million-per-year contract with Afghanistan to explore and develop Afghan oil and gas resources, expanding economic cooperation and processing extracted gas in Uzbekistan for mutual benefit. Kabul and Tashkent have strengthened energy ties through major infrastructure... MORE

Executive Summary: Türkiye is advancing the $1.615 billion Eastern Türkiye Railway Infrastructure Development Project (ETMIC), which will modernize the Divrigi–Kars–Georgia line with electrification, signaling, and advanced traffic management to boost freight and regional growth. Ankara is also planning the Samsun–Trabzon–Sarpi high-speed line linking central Türkiye... MORE

Executive Summary: After nearly 25 years, Russia is closest to constructing a new mining and processing plant at the Pavlovskoye lead-zinc deposit in the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. The Pavlovskoye project was abandoned after Western sanctions caused Finnish companies to withdraw participation in construction... MORE

Executive Summary: The maiden Arctic voyage of the Istanbul Bridge from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the U.K. via Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) halved transit time to 20 days, signaling potentially growing PRC–Russian cooperation in Arctic trade corridors. Despite the advantages of... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) influence in Central Asia is growing, and it presents a greater challenge to Russia, the traditional regional hegemon, through multilateral summits such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the China–Central Asia Summit. PRC–Central Asia cooperation is... MORE

Executive Summary: Uzbekistan’s plans to build infrastructure facilities at the Iranian Chabahar port to gain direct access to the Indian Ocean have not been implemented, indicating Tashkent’s possibly cautious approach to this issue. New Delhi is strengthening its economic ties with Russia and the People’s... MORE

Executive Summary: Uzbekistan is pursuing nuclear power cooperation with both Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), aiming to become a nuclear energy hub in Central Asia. Tashkent is hedging against risks in working with Moscow due to Russia’s weakened economic position amid international... MORE

Executive Summary: Russia has become increasingly dependent on trade with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with more than a third of Russia’s total trade turnover being generated by the PRC. The recent memorandum on the development... MORE