Since the beginning of this year, Syrian Ossetians have been arriving in North Ossetia. Six refugees arrived in the republic at the end of January, and 12 more followed in February. The Ossetians from Syria arrived in the North Caucasus at the invitation of the... MORE

Kazakhstan’s mediation role in Iran, which resumes today, is not unique. Astana has striven to resolve conflicts throughout its Eurasian neighborhood.  To this end, at the end of March, Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov visited Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to engage in some shuttle diplomacy to... MORE

On March 25, Alena Kupchina, the Belarusian deputy minister of foreign affairs, met with Maira Moira, the European Union’s envoy to Belarus (https://www.mfa.gov.by/press/news_mfa/e9045fcd71ff4ac8.html). The increased frequency of such meetings is caused by the necessity to improve relations in advance of the September 2013 Eastern Partnership... MORE

On March 12, on his official visit to Moscow, Abkhazian separatist leader Alexander Ankvab met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill I. The sides discussed strengthening bilateral ties between Russia and Abkhazia (www.georgiatoday.ge,... MORE

Both the European Union and Ukraine will lose if an association agreement is not signed this year, but European politicians would rather have Ukraine bear the responsibility for such a failure, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on his recent visit to Hungary (kmu.gov.ua, March... MORE

Moscow’s latest moves against Moldova, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s call for opening a Russian consulate in Transnistria (politicom.moldova.org/news/russia-opening-a-consulate-in-transnistria-does-not-mean-recognizing-the-region-236048-eng.html), have attracted far more attention, but a speech by Mikhail Formuzal, the head of Gagauzia, to a meeting at an Istanbul university last week (regnum.ru/news/polit/1640299.html) may... MORE

The drawdown of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014 will limit the future potential of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). Moreover, the withdrawal has left defense planning staffs among International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) members trying to resolve the conundrum... MORE

At the end of March, Mukhamed Cherkesov, the leader of the Circassian organization in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, addressed a plea to republican officials to help Circassian refugees from Syria. Cherkesov alleged that Syrian Circassians have been encountering unusually steep bureaucratic hurdles in Karachaevo-Cherkessia and been forced to... MORE

Boris Berezovsky, an entrepreneur and politician who personified the loaded term “oligarch,” effortlessly dominated the political debates in Moscow last week after his mysterious death in a mansion outside London on March 23. His 12 years in exile had been lonely, but hundreds of friends... MORE

Recent events around Belarus draw attention to a chasm between the Belarusian policies pursued by Russia and by the West. This month, Russia agreed to retain an unprecedented scale of duty-free oil deliveries to Belarus. Under the current deal, Russia exports crude oil to Belarus,... MORE