The interim agreement, concluded on November 24 with Iran and six world powers led by the United States, will see Tehran cap its nuclear program at a reduced capacity in exchange for relaxed international sanctions. The deal has met with strong resistance from some quarters,... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Armenia on December 2 to seal his triumph in turning Armenia away from the European Union (see accompanying article). Putin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan noted that Armenia has participated in three high-level meetings in the course of three months... MORE

Back-to-back with the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius (see EDM, December 3–5), Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to Armenia on December 2. Putin’s timing was designed to underscore Russia’s capacity to induce Armenia to choose Russia and Eurasia over Europe.... MORE

After President Viktor Yanukovych’s failure to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union at the November 28–29 Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Russian pressure on Ukraine seemingly eased. But in fact, Moscow’s political influence remains at an elevated level, which challenges not only Ukraine,... MORE

The European Union’s Vilnius summit (November 28–29) helped to demonstrate that the Eastern Partnership program must pursue a more differentiated approach toward the individual partner countries.The EU had, broadly speaking, made identical offers to Armenia and Azerbaijan, respectively. It proposed to each of them the... MORE

Typically, before delivering the annual address to the parliament, President Vladimir Putin takes a pause in order to build up expectations and create the impression of thoughtful work being carried out along crucial guidelines. Last week, however, the Kremlin staged a series of public events... MORE

On November 29, Azerbaijan and the European Union signed a visa-facilitation agreement in Vilnius, Lithuania, within the framework of the Eastern Partnership summit. The agreement was signed by the foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, by Linas Linkevicius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania in... MORE

Among the European Union’s six Eastern Partnership countries (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), Moldova is moving closer to the EU at the fastest pace. The government, led successively by Vlad Filat (prime minister, 2009–2013) and Iurie Leanca (foreign affairs minister 2009–2013, prime minister... MORE

Sino-Mongolian relations improved during the fall, with a pair of official visits demonstrating progress on both economic and military ties. The first was Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag’s trip to China on October 22–26. During the visit Altankhuyag and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to... MORE

On November 23, Beijing announced that a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) would go into effect over the East China Sea, overlapping existing Japanese and South Korean ADIZ, requiring all air traffic passing through the zone to file flight information irrespective of its destination.... MORE