Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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Georgia Receives ‘Maximum Possible’ at NATO’s Warsaw Summit
Several paragraphs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) final Warsaw Summit communiqué (July 9) refer to long-time NATO-aspirant Georgia (Nato.int, July 9). The Alliance expressed its readiness to ramp up dialogue and cooperation with Georgia and Ukraine on strengthening Black Sea regional security. The... MORE
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Dialogue With Russia Produces Universal Frustration
The idea of engaging in more dialogue with Russia is eagerly accepted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is being pursued by the United States, is cultivated by the Chinese leadership, and has again become embraced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The latter... MORE
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Russia and the West Engage in Mutual Deterrence
After the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Warsaw last week (July 8–9), the NATO-Russian Council met in Brussels, on July 13, at the ambassadorial level. The meeting did not lead to much progress: Both the Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Russian... MORE
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Russia Wanders the War Zones and Political Badlands of the Middle East
Russia’s military intervention in Syria is clearly not going well. Last Friday (July 8), another helicopter was reportedly shot down near Palmyra, and the Russian Ministry of Defense, after an initial denial, had to admit that the downed aircraft was not a Syrian Mi-25, but... MORE
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Minsk Props up Currency, Diversifies Foreign Policy
The Belarusian ruble was re-denominated on July 1. Over the next six months, the banknotes in circulation will be replaced with new banknotes and coins in proportion of 10,000 old Belarusian rubles per 1 new Belarusian ruble. Thus, the legendary number of zeros on Belarusian... MORE
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US Diplomacy, Ukraine Diverge on the Minsk ‘Agreement’
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s public message in Kyiv on July 7 (see accompanying article) reaffirms, broadly, the talking points that Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland had been delivering in Kyiv since May 2015 (see EDM, May 26). It was at that point that Kerry... MORE
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John Kerry’s Unwelcome Message in Ukraine
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland held talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other Ukrainian officials, in Kyiv on July 7. At the joint news conference, Kerry urged Ukraine to help jump-start the implementation of the Minsk armistice through unilateral... MORE
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Russia’s Karabakh Mediation Efforts Show Early Hints of Promise
Russia is working hard to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters in Yerevan, on July 4 (Trend, July 4). Her statement alluded to that day’s meeting held between Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Russian counterpart,... MORE
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A Change in Turkish-Russian Relations: What Sort of Rapprochement?
The end of the six-year diplomatic stalemate between Israel and Turkey, announced on June 27 (Hurriyet Daily News, June 28), also heralded a shift on another front. Seven months after the start of the crisis in Turkish-Russian relations, a second letter from the Turkish leadership... MORE
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Putin Makes Promises on Confidence-Building Measures Russia Cannot Keep
Last week (July 1), during a visit to Helsinki, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened that Finland’s security would be undermined if the Nordic country decided to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Speaking at a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö,... MORE