The new plan for peace in Ukraine’s east, disclosed by Ambassador Martin Sajdik (see EDM, January 30, 2019) and the reactions to it from Kyiv, Moscow, Donetsk and Luhansk (see below), illustrate three basic facts about the Russian-imposed Minsk “agreements” and their non-implementation from 2014/2015... MORE

The economic and political crisis in Venezuela is seen in Russia as an imperialist conspiracy, led by the United States, to oust a Russian ally: the “legitimate” and “progressive” government of President Nicolás Maduro. The Kremlin’s involvement in Latin America goes back many decades. In... MORE

Moscow is no longer inclined, even pro forma, to consider the terms of a United Nations peace mission in Ukraine’s east. A full year has elapsed since the Kremlin’s negotiator on this issue (and overseer of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territory), Vladislav Surkov, last consented to meet... MORE

On January 17, Ukrainian Minster of Defense Stepan Poltorak stated that Russia’s ultimate goal in the Azov–Black Sea region is to “force Ukraine to renounce its right to navigate through the Kerch Strait and to annex the Sea of Azov in its entirety” (Telegraf.com.ua, January... MORE

In recent years, Moscow has placed growing emphasis on procuring modern and advanced platforms to increase the combat capability of its Air Force, subsumed within the Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno Kosmicheskikh Sil—VKS). Many of these new aerial platforms have also been tried and tested in military... MORE

Foreign affairs have yielded few successes and much chagrin for Russia since the start of 2019 (see EDM, January 14, 2019). Relations with the United States are going from bad to worse, as the inevitable collapse of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signifies... MORE

Turkey and Ukraine are boosting their strategic cooperation in the military sphere. Last week (January 12), Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko stated that he signed an agreement on the purchase of 12 Turkish Bayraktar Tactical Block 2 (TB2) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the Ukrainian military... MORE

The minister of national defense of the Central African Republic (CAR), Marie-Noëlle Koyara, stated, on January 10, that a Russian military base might soon be created in the country (Business-gazeta.ru, January 10, 2019). If so, this step would usher in a qualitatively new phase in... MORE

Russia’s use of cruise missiles during its military operations in Syria generated much media and analytical attention at home and abroad. Despite questions surrounding the military value of such usage of high-precision strikes on targets in Syria, the success of using sea-launched and air-launched cruise... MORE

On January 10, Azerbaijan displayed its new Tufan (“Storm”)–class patrol ship for the country’s State Border Service. The vessel features Israeli-made navigational, monitoring and radio-telecommunication devices as well as advanced missile complexes (President.az, January 10). The Border Guard also received new SkyStriker autonomous loitering munitions... MORE