In his annual phone-in dialogue with Russian citizens, televised live on October 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed extending the stationing of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine’s Crimea beyond the 2017 legal deadline. Moreover, Putin obliquely cast doubt on Ukrainian sovereignty and security in... MORE

Meeting in Kyiv on October 24, Prime Ministers Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine and Mikhail Fradkov of Russia authorized the signing of agreements whereby 55 billion cubic meters of “Central Asian” gas would be delivered to Ukraine in 2007 at a price of $130 per 1,000... MORE

Russian energy projects governed by production sharing agreements are now facing environmental scrutiny, possibly indicating Moscow's unhappiness over the terms of deals made almost a decade ago. Russian officials went as far as threatening to shut down the country's largest production sharing agreement (PSA) project,... MORE

As is the case every year since 2002, the unresolved conflict in Transnistria will almost certainly figure at or near the top of the agenda of the OSCE’s year-end conference on December 3-4 in Brussels. Hoping to show at least some movement toward settling at... MORE

On January 14, 2007, voters in Belarus will again go to the polls to elect local governments. The opposition, including the United Democratic Forces (UDF) movement, is debating the wisdom of participating in another election that is little more than a façade. A majority, encouraged... MORE

On October 12, Russian Colonel-General Yevgeny Baryaev told a meeting of law-enforcement agency representatives in Grozny, the Chechen capital, “At the beginning of October the situation deteriorated in Chechnya, especially in the mountainous Vedeno district.” As an example, Baryaev mentioned that one week earlier a... MORE

Russian aircraft producer Sukhoi and the official arms trader Rosoboroneksport are beginning to feel the sanctions imposed last July by the U.S. Department of State for violating the Iran Non-Proliferation Act of 2000 (EDM, August 7). Sukhoi Civil Aircraft announced that the restrictions might hamper... MORE

Astana played host to the Commonwealth of Independent States Energy Council on October 13, a meeting that triggered mixed emotions in Kazakhstan. The session was orchestrated by the head of Russia’s Unified Energy Systems, Anatoly Chubais, who optimistically reported that the meeting was “a very... MORE