Ukraine: EU holds summit in Kiev

A summit between leaders of the European Union and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko yesterday did little to convince onlookers that Ukraine would be joining the EU anytime soon. The EU has downplayed a prior claim that they would consider a peacekeeping mission to eastern Ukraine, while Poroshenko loudly defended the debt restricting deal/economic reforms and…

Kyrgyzstan: PM resigns over Kumtor-Centerra impasse

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Joomart Otorbaev announced he is stepping down after just over a year in office, making this the fifth prime minister the country has seen since the 2010 revolution. Otorbaev didn’t give an immediate reason for his resignation but the move comes in the midst of an enormous debate over the operations of…

Russia: EU pursues anti-trust suit against Gazprom

Today, EU antitrust regulators have made the case the Gazprom has abused its dominance over European natural gas markets. The European Commission said that unfair pricing has resulted in higher gas prices in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland – most of which are almost 100% dependent on imported Russian natural gas. Regulators assert a…

Russia: Victory Day parade turns into diplomatic row

EU Leaders snubbed the Russian Victory Day parade, which celebrates the ending of World War II (called the Great Patriotic War in Russia) by refusing or otherwise rebuffing offers to attend. Russian media conglomerates blamed pressure from the United States and Russian leaders rebuked the European political elite for “boycotting those who lost hundreds of…

Russia expanding anti-terror support in Central Asia

It’s generally the contention among observers of Central Asia that most governments fear a spillover of violence from Afghanistan into their own territories, feeding nascent Islamist movements and causing large-scale violent disruptions in governance. This is hard to refute given the drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan and the increasing recruiting activities of ISIS among…

Ukraine: Debt restructuring is agreed thanks to IMF loan

Just as quickly as they began, the Ukrainian debt restructuring talks appear to be over. On Saturday, Kiev agreed to a debt restricting plan with debtholders like Franklin Templeton, PIMCO, and Blackrock as part of the $40 billion IMF bailout agreed to last month. Ukraine has agreed to a debt-swap in exchange for liquidation from…

Iran Deal: Framework Deal is announced

The long-awaited deadline for the prospective nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 Powers has come and gone, but negotiations have continued. The US State Department reported that “enough progress” had been made to merit working through this deadline, but despite the optimism, there is no sign that the most contentious issues have been resolved.…

China: New AIIB bank is alternative to Western financing

Over the weekend, China unveiled its newest foreign policy initiative: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) a multilateral development bank headed by Beijing to provide financing for Asian projects. The AIIB is a clear rival to Western-headed development banks such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, which are all popularly…