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…
In late March we had the chance to sit down with Marlene Laruelle, Director of the Central Asia Program at The George Washington University. Dr. Laruelle is also Research Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Relations, Associate Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and the editor-in-chief of Central Asian Affairs. She has authored and…
US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Moscow to engage in talks with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The two statesmen are expected to broach not only the subject of Ukraine, but also those of Western sanctions, regional cooperation and extremism. The visit has predictably drawn a healthy amount of attention in…
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…
Russian energy behemoth Gazprom announced that it has reached a deal with Turkish government officials and representatives from Botas, a major Turkish energy firm, to construct what has been labeled the “Turkey Stream.” The new pipeline is expected to connect the two countries and will become operational in December 2016, according to a Gazprom spokesperson.…
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…
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…
Russian President Vladimir Putin played host to an annual telethon and question-and-answer session earlier this week in Moscow. During the Q&A session, the Russian president stated that he expects Russia’s economy to reach growth levels seen before the current crisis within a period of two years. While likely to attract naysayers in the West, the…
The ruble has been on a relatively steady upward trajectory since the beginning of the year, and yesterday traded for the first time under the exchange rate of 50:1 on the dollar since last November. In total, the currency has regained 22% of its value. Most analysts point to rising oil benchmarks and Russian sovereign…
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…
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