The last time the EU Eastern Partnership Summit took place, it was 2013, and we lived in a different world. The results of that meeting, with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych choosing to go with Russia’s offer of a $9 billion development fund in exchange for EEU association over an EU Association Agreement, sparked the…
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Ashgabat, Turkmenistan yesterday to make a concerted effort to push the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project forward, which would supply energy consuming Pakistan and India with Turkmen natural gas. Sharif met with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and issued several memorandums of understanding to lay the framework for specific agreements regarding…
One of the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan published a letter to Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev that the country is suffering from a lack of “traceable” funds – the letter details a low level of confidence in the Uzbek currency, the som, which is prompting most businesses and individuals to rely only…
Christopher Weafer is the founder of Macro-Advisory, a research consulting company focusing on Russia, the CIS, and macro oil trends and was recently in 2013 voted the best Russian investment strategist in a poll by Thomas Reuters Extel. Before becoming a consultant, Chris was Chief Strategist at Sberbank-CIB, Russia’s largest bank. He also writes extensively…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Beijing today, and said that it was time for them to rethink policies that thus far had stifled true cooperation between the two countries. The announcement came after the unveiling of some 24 diplomatic and economic agreements designed to promote communication between the two powers – but Modi also…
Opposition members and colleagues of the assassinated Boris Nemtsov released a report estimating the number of Russian soldiers secretly fighting in eastern Ukraine. Apparently Nemtsov was working on the report before he was shot in February in Moscow – the report, only 65 pages long, details that some 70 Russian troops were killed in eastern…
Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a return to normal relations yesterday during a diplomatic summit just after a larger boycott of the Victory Day parade celebrating the end of WWII on Saturday. Despite the boycott, two dozen other world leaders flew to Russia including guests of honor Xi…
Ukrainian and separatist representatives are meeting in Minsk for a third time, but marking the first official meeting since the signing of a peace deal in February. The two sides, including officials from Russia and the OSCE held talks yesterday to discuss how to create more stability in the eastern region of the country. Both…
The battle between Afghan security forces and the Taliban still rages in Kunduz, a province of northern Afghanistan – all while Taliban representatives met with Afghan political figures in Qatar to discuss possible ceasefires. The major source of disagreement was the continued presence of US troops in the country. The Afghan government has made no…
Russia cut its key interest rate to 12.5% from 14%, in a bid to mildly boost inflation to keep up the slight build in momentum the economy has gained over the past quarter. This is the third movement by the Russian Central Bank in the past six months, beginning with the controversial and unexpected raising…
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