*To read Part One, please click here. Poland is one of the most engaged Euro-Atlantic actors in the West’s proxy war with Russia over Ukraine. The military, societal and humanitarian support Poland continues to provide Ukraine has pushed the two neighboring states to deepen their... MORE

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, was in Kaliningrad on June 20, where he declared that Moscow was preparing a serious response to what he called Lithuania’s (already three-day-long) “transportation blockade” of that Russian exclave (Ren.tv, June 21). Hours earlier, the Russian... MORE

Chinese firms are building railways into the Russian north in order to secure access to the enormous reserves of natural resources there. From one point of view, these efforts are helping Moscow, which itself lacks the funds to build railways in the far-flung areas east... MORE

On June 3, the Georgian Ministries of Internal Affairs and Finance announced that all employees of the Border and Customs Department would begin operating each of the country’s physical border checkpoints continuously, in emergency mode, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (Businessfeed.ge, May... MORE

Recently, Turkey stated that it expects a decision on grain exports from Ukraine by sea “in the coming days.” But even after an agreement is reached with Russia, it will take about five weeks to begin the operation, according to İbrahim Kalın, the spokesperson for... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The unprovoked large-scale Russian military aggression against Ukraine, launched on February 24, is putting at risk the Kremlin’s ambitious plans related to economic exploitation of the Arctic region and the Russian High North. Not only are the Russian... MORE

The issue of Russia’s naval blockade of Ukrainian ports, which severely hampers the export of Ukrainian agricultural commodities, has for weeks been dominating headlines and high-level discussions at various international forums. Not only is the forcible Russian obstruction of Ukraine’s food exports having a ruinous... MORE

Two government documents—“On the development of the Arctic zone and ensuring national security until 2035” (Pravo.gov.ru, October 26, 2020) and “Energy Strategy 2035” (ES-2035) (Minenergo.gov.ru, accessed May 29, 2022)—outline Russia’s vision on its role, place and ambitions in the Arctic macro-region. Aside from other aspects,... MORE

On May 22, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and President Ilham Aliyev, respectively, met in Brussels for talks under mediation by Charles Michel, the president of the European Council. The event was a follow-up to their previous three European Union–mediated... MORE

The Russian government has a long tradition of raising territorial disputes against any neighboring country that seeks to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) because Moscow hopes that the existence of such purported disputes will slow down or even stop the process of these... MORE