Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia and Jadranka Kosor of Croatia discussed the oil transportation scheme known as Druzhba-Adria integration during Kosor’s recent visit to Moscow. The trip marked Croatia’s accession to Gazprom’s South Stream project and opened the way for Russian energy companies’ expansion... MORE

On February 1, the Paris-based Eutelsat, Europe’s number one satellite television operator, disconnected Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Caucasus TV Channel from its satellite, after a one-week successful transmission test. Eutelsat also declared that it was backing out of its own contract offer to the Georgian... MORE

This week in Bucharest, high-level representatives of the Russian energy business and their Italian allies are making their strongest pitch yet for Romania to join their South Stream gas transport project. Romania is the latest target in Moscow's recent effort to enlist additional countries in... MORE

Against the European Union's Southern Corridor project, Russia is redoubling efforts to advertise its own project, South Stream, with Italian backing. The scene for that advertising is in Bucharest this week. Due to stagnant gas production and aging fields in operation, however, Russia has been... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's call for Western-assisted development of Yamal gas reserves for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG) (EDM, September 25) holds potential global ramifications. Top managers of no fewer than 10 leading international companies attended the session with Putin in Salekhard on... MORE

On September 24 the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin led government ministers and CEO's of some global energy companies on a visit to the Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia. Putin announced that Russia intends to become an exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) worldwide on... MORE

Another appeal to Western governments from renowned public figures, this time over Georgia, has appeared in European newspapers (Le Monde, Die Welt, The Guardian, Corriere della Sera, September 22, 23). Signed by the Czech, Lithuanian, and Estonian former heads of state and government (Vaclav Havel,... MORE

A representative group of Ukraine's cultural elite has alerted Western governments and public opinion to Russia's mounting threats against Ukrainian independence. Alarmed by Moscow's latest moves, the signatories of the appeal are also concerned by the failure of Western governments to respond by using existing... MORE

Russian naval operations in August 2008 highlighted the security deficit in the Black Sea. As a littoral country, Russia misused the territory of another littoral country, Ukraine, as a staging ground for attacking a third littoral country, Georgia, using its Black Sea Fleet based in... MORE

On September 15 Russia officially warned that it would intercept and detain Georgian coastal guard boats in the Black Sea, if these attempt to interfere with ships that trade with Abkhazia, or if the Georgian boats otherwise trespass Abkhazia's "maritime border" into "Abkhaz waters." The... MORE