Kyiv has appointed pro-Ukraine refugees from the Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk to represent those territories in the Minsk Contact Group, the forum that negotiates the implementation of the Minsk “agreements.” For the first time in almost six years, pro-Ukraine delegates, acting on behalf of those... MORE

The main battle line of the Libyan civil war—between the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by the self-proclaimed Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and forces loyal to the United Nations–recognized Government of National Accord (GNA)—has shifted east, from the outskirts of Tripoli to the Mediterranean city... MORE

On May 25, the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), in Belarus, finished receiving nuclear fuel for the initial load of its first reactor (Belta, May 25). These nuclear rods, delivered in batches since May 6, are now ready to be loaded into the reactor, after... MORE

In his statement last January commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first Russian Antarctic expedition, President Vladimir Putin expressed admiration for “generations of Russians who have dedicated their lives to studying Antarctica.” He acknowledged the “huge contribution” of Russian science in exploring the world’s southernmost... MORE

Borders remain in dispute throughout Central Asia, with Moscow paying such close attention that governments in the region now feel the need to warn the Russian authorities not to become involved (Ritmeurasia.org, June 5). Often Moscow offers its services as a peacemaker in an effort... MORE

On May 22, Armenian Health Minister Arsen Torosyan accused Georgia of hiding true statistics about the numbers of its people infected with the novel coronavirus and boasted that his country’s anti-epidemiological system was far superior to the Georgian one (Arminfo.info, May 22). His remarks sparked... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here.   For almost three years, the Hungarian government has sought to instrumentalize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and some European Union institutions to pressure Ukraine into legislating certain entitlements for the Hungarian national community in Carpathian Ukraine.... MORE

Ambiguity can be a useful political tactic, securing for a state the advantage of flexibility while leaving its adversaries guessing; but sometimes it simply camouflages confusion. Russia seeks to present its policy in the Middle East as usefully ambiguous. But in fact, it is at... MORE

Kyiv and Budapest have initiated an effort to resolve their differences over the impact of Ukrainian language and education laws on the Hungarian national minority in Ukraine’s Carpathian province (see EDM, June 3). Budapest’s position is based on a sui generis conception of Hungarian national... MORE

Ukraine’s Carpathian province (Zakarpattia Oblast) is comparable in certain key respects with Bessarabia in the Odesa province (see EDM, May 28). Zakarpattia is another outlying territory where Kyiv’s influence is weak, local power brokers well-entrenched, the infrastructure desolate, and ethnic minorities—in this case the local... MORE