On April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow with Tatarstani President Rustam Minnikhanov, who informed Putin about his three recent visits to Crimea. Apparently acting as liaison between the Kremlin and the Crimean Tatars, Tatarstan’s president told Putin that the Crimean Tatar leaders... MORE

As the charged pause in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict drags on, policymakers in Moscow discover that their bold breakthrough into the territory beyond the boundaries of international law has brought rather unexciting consequences. Last Monday (March 31), President Vladimir Putin called German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seeking... MORE

While generally trying to avoid confrontations with other countries, there are some issues on which Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev refuses to compromise—one is regional integration, another is nuclear non-proliferation. At last week’s Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague, Nazarbayev supported measures to counter nuclear... MORE

Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, and Western hand-wringing in response, demonstrate the depth of the security vacuum in Europe’s East. Comprising Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, this area forms the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) and the European Union’s direct eastern neighborhood.... MORE

As the West prepares economic sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the head of the government-owned State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) nuclear complex, Sergei Kirienko, said that Russia’s nuclear industry contracts with other countries could be affected, observing, “Considering an array of comments... MORE

The unscheduled meeting in Paris of US Secretary of State John Kerry with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on March 30, had raised hopes in Moscow that a compromise solution to the Ukrainian crisis may be found (https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2441781). After annexing Crimea, the Kremlin... MORE

Following President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s pronouncements about Crimea being effectively part of Russia (see EDM, March 26), Ukraine recalled its ambassador in Minsk for consultations. After Belarus voted against the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, damage control on the part of... MORE

With a patriotic frenzy under way in Russia in connection with the crisis in Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and ensuing tensions with the West, ethnic minorities living in Russia are predictably coming under increased scrutiny by the state security services and Russian nationalists. As one... MORE

Visiting Moldova on March 29, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland declared that US-Moldova relations “have never been stronger” (Moldpres, March 30). Nuland’s visit was the latest in the series of high-profile US-Moldova meetings following Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.US President Barack Obama... MORE

Two high-level visits of Mongolian officials to Seoul in the past six weeks indicate that Mongolian–South Korean relations are rapidly intensifying. This trend and Mongolia’s mid-March facilitation of the reunion of Japanese relatives with the daughter of a North Korean abductee illustrate the desire of... MORE