An EU Diplomat in Ashgabat, Denis Daniilidis has continued an initiative handed down from Brussels to push to restart talks on the Trans-Caspian pipeline, which would transport natural gas from fields in Turkmenistan across to Azerbaijan and then Turkey. The project has been stalling for years due to political, ecological, and financial uncertainties. The volume…
Afghan Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Washington has borne fruit in the form of an agreement to delay the military pullout from Afghanistan, in spite of promises to cease all troop presence before the end of his second term, fulfilling a campaign promise. Both premiers made a joint press conference announcing the decision, in…
Reports that Russian arms are still flowing into Ukraine with no interruption cast doubts on how effective the Minsk II Accords will be at keeping peace official. Unofficially, fighting still rages around the Donetsk airport and Mauripol and many senior military officials from NATO have made public statements that Moscow continues to provide aid and…
We had a chance to speak with Marius Toime, who is currently a project finance partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner’s office in Singapore, where he specializes in mining contracts and financing in the Asia Pacific Region and is a noted expert on investment in Mongolia, on which he has written extensively. SD: As you noted…
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and lead negotiator Abbas Araqchi have dismissed the likelihood for a signed deal this week, citing more issues to be hammered out before all necessary signatories will be gathered to formalize the deal. The key item to look for, according to Zarif, was when all foreign ministers of the P5+1…
After much speculation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made another public appearance, ending the rumors of his sickness or demise that prompted many news articles over the weekend. This initial appearance is a state visit from Bishkek by President Almzbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan. The hashtag #Putinumer spread over Russian twitter users. The huge amount of…
The IMF has agreed to funnel some $10 billion in additional assistance funds into Ukraine’s economy as part of a larger four year bailout program. The fund’s board approved a $17.5 billion loan with tranche payments of some $5 billion next week and the other $5 in the next month for Ukraine to borrow against.…
Senior officials from the Pakistani army and Afghan government will be holding open peace talks with the Taliban, marking the first joint effort towards a diplomatic by the two countries simultaneously. Ashraf Ghani’s government is under fire by the new Parliament for negotiating with Pakistan to the degree it has – even former President Hamid…
Chinese officials announced yesterday that they will buy new natural gas reserves piped in from Western Siberia, another move suggesting Russia’s pivot to the east in reaction to sanctions that cut its economy off from Western capital and retail markets. The agreement specifically is between Gazprom and CNPC (both state-owned oil and gas entities) to…
Officials coming from the latest round of talks of the Caspian littoral states (Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Russia, and Kazakhstan) have reported major progress in delineating regions of authority in the Caspian Sea. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ibrahim Rahimpour reported that he was confident that the dispute and outline could be resolved by the time of the…
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