On January 15, the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan received James Appathurai, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia. They expressed satisfaction with the fact that Armenia’s relations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are developing normally, and there is... MORE

Before the end of 2015, a joint Training and Evaluation Center will open in Georgia under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), within the framework of the substantial package of cooperation that was granted to the country at the Alliance’s September 2014... MORE

Russia’s and its proxies’ military advantage (see EDM, January 22, February 3) is increasingly shaping the Minsk process of negotiations to Ukraine’s detriment. That process maintains the fiction that Russia is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine. Ukraine’s official position in Kyiv and... MORE

More than in most parts of the world, the former Soviet space is a place where battles about the present and the future are waged over the past. Most famously, Russians and Ukrainians disagree profoundly whether Kievan Rus marked the beginning of Russian statehood, as... MORE

Russian and proxy forces are attacking Ukrainian positions at multiple points along the frontline since mid-January 2015, bringing to bear superior armored forces, unmatched heavy firepower and electronic warfare support. These offensive operations are mostly positional and attritional for the time being, with a distinct... MORE

During a press conference in Yerevan on January 27, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said that various opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation could potentially be beneficial, and Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) could represent one such opportunity. He noted... MORE

A new phase of Russia’s war is ongoing since mid-January in Ukraine’s east. This phase has broken the informal “silence regime” that had taken effect since December 9, which had mainly restrained the use of heavy artillery and multiple missile launchers. It is on these... MORE

Russia has achieved much success last week in its rush toward self-isolation, and perhaps the most demonstrative step was made in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Sergei Naryshkin, the Chairman of the State Duma, came to Strasbourg as the head of... MORE

On December 28, 2014, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the death of Brigadier General Hamid Taqavi in Samarra, Iraq. The Islamic State has since accepted responsibility for the killing of Taqavi (AFP, December 29, 2014). Taqavi was killed while on an advisory mission... MORE

As the investigation into the January 12 murder of the Avetisyan family (see EDM, January 16) continues, several top Armenian officials have admitted that the Russian side’s refusal to hand over Valery Permyakov, Russian soldier who is the main suspect in the case, contradicts existing... MORE