Moscow is prepared to orchestrate local elections in the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk (“DPR, LPR”), separately from Ukraine’s upcoming local elections. Donetsk and Luhansk announced this intention in early July (see EDM, July 9) and reaffirmed it during the Contact Group’s failed meetings... MORE

Last week (July 30), at a press conference in the newly furnished National Defense Center, on the Frunsinskaya embankment in downtown Moscow, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov (60) presented the defense ministry’s latest major PR project: the opening of the First Army Games International, which... MORE

The financial intelligence services of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine have been intensively cooperating to prevent the financing of illegal armed groups, according to Vyachaslaw Reut, the head of the financial monitoring department of Belarus’ State Control Committee (KGK) (TASS, July 22). “Despite the existing political... MORE

Local elections are looming in the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR, LPR”) in October. If validated internationally, such elections could lead to internal Ukrainian constitutional negotiations that would preserve the Russia-Ukraine conflict—unsolved, but in a different form. It would conclusively vindicate Russia’s thesis about... MORE

The European Union–backed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project continues to gain traction against the Moscow-led Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline initiative. The game-changer in the Euro-Russian “battle” for pipelines and energy hubs could be the participation of the major oil and gas producers Iran and... MORE

Western governments regularly disagree with the Kremlin over the meaning of democracy and free elections. Nevertheless, Western diplomacy currently supports Moscow’s goal for local elections to be staged in the Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine’s east. If validated as apparently intended by the Organization for Security... MORE

Russia’s policy toward the Islamic State (IS) group in the Middle East is controversial. On the one hand, involvement in IS activities officially became a crime in Russia in February 2015 (Rossiyskaya Gazeta, February 27). On the other hand, Russia does not seem to have... MORE

The Russian nyet in the United Nations Security Council, which blocked the resolution on setting up an international tribunal on the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, was entirely predictable (see EDM, July 30). President Vladimir Putin had described the proposed legal... MORE

China is looking to Ukraine to be a “Gateway to Europe,” for its One Belt One Road (OBOR)　project. For its part, Ukraine has signed agreements with the Development Bank of China and is increasing the share of Chinese investment in Ukraine. However, as Ukraine further... MORE

Despite the best efforts of both Moscow and Tokyo to sustain the momentum toward a full normalization of their relations and a genuine rapprochement (see EDM, February 24, 2014; June 10, 2014), once again Russia has tried to intimidate Japan. In June 2015, Russian Defense... MORE