Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
CIS AND OTHER ISSUES SOUR U.S.-RUSSIAN RELATIONS
While visiting Moscow last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez painted a rosy picture of U.S.-Russian relations. "The only thing people read once in a while is that we have a disagreement, but even family members have disagreements," Gutierrez was quoted as saying. "We are... MORE
RUSSIA DETAILS PLANS TO DEVELOP REMOTE FAR EASTERN REGIONS
On April 5 the Russian government disclosed the details of its pledge to spend billions in government funding to speed up development of the country's Far East. In response, local leaders rushed to demand more money for their respective regions. The government plans to allocate... MORE
RUSSIA POISED TO LEAD AN EVOLVING CARTEL OF GAS-EXPORTING COUNTRIES
Convening in Doha, Qatar on April 9, the Gas-Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) has taken a first step toward creating an exporters’ cartel at the intergovernmental level. However, the Western gas-exporting countries -- Canada, Norway, and the Netherlands -- oppose this initiative, as does Azerbaijan; while... MORE
IS COMPROMISE POSSIBLE BETWEEN YUSHCHENKO AND RULING COALITION?
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has rejected calls for a truce from Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and ignored the pacifying overtures made by Yanukovych’s allies in parliament last week. Yushchenko insists that his April 2 decree to dissolve parliament was in line with the constitution and... MORE
UZBEKISTAN FOSTERS EU CONTACTS
Uzbekistan, isolated from the West since the Andijan massacre in May 2005, clearly regards the European Union as its best hope for rapprochement as a means to promote its interests within Europe. As a result of the German presidency of the Council of the EU,... MORE
RUSSIAN ECONOMIC DYNAMISM UNDERMINED BY “STATE CURSE”
The Russian economic boom continues to gain momentum, leading the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) to raise its growth forecast for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007 from 6.2% to 6.5% (RosBusinessConsulting, April 6). At the annual the Higher School of Economics... MORE
MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CHANGING TONE AND NEGOTIATORS WITH RUSSIA ON TRANSNISTRIA
On April 6, Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Stratan held talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on a full range of bilateral issues, including the Transnistria conflict. President Vladimir Voronin set the stage for Stratan’s mission through a public supplication for... MORE
GEORGIA CREATING ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT IN SOUTH OSSETIA
Last November’s election of a Tbilisi-backed administration under Dmitry Sanakoyev in parts of South Ossetia has resulted in a dual-power situation, challenging the Moscow-installed Tskhinvali authorities to a contest for the local population’s allegiance. Tbilisi is now equipping the Sanakoyev administration -- based in Kurta,... MORE
UNOMIG DELAYING REPORT ON HELICOPTER ATTACK IN GEORGIA’S UPPER KODORI
For reasons undeclared, the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is procrastinating with its investigation into the March 11 shelling of Georgia’s upper Kodori Valley by helicopters that flew in from Russia and returned there. On the morrow of the attacks, direct as well... MORE
YUSHCHENKO RADICALIZES AS POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS
On Monday, April 2, President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree disbanding parliament and plunging Ukraine into a political crisis (see EDM, April 4). Elections are set for May 27 -- before the Constitutional Court will rule on the legality of the decree. Yushchenko is a... MORE