Meetings in Minsk between leaders from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine continued throughout the night on Monday and through much of the day on Tuesday as leaders attempt to craft a lasting cease fire agreement. The Ukrainian side, for one, has been optimistic in its predictions, with President Petro Poroshenko stating that he was certain…
The European Union will delay the continuance of sanctions against Russia by one week. The decision was made by the foreign ministers of the European Union in order to encourage successful peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, set to begin tomorrow in Minsk. The EU’s decision to forestall sanctions coincides with declarations made by German…
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel staunchly refused to provide lethal military support to Kiev on Saturday, instead throwing her support behind diplomatic and persuasion efforts to enact a ceasefire between government forces and Russian backed separatist militias currently engaged in ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine. Her statements were immediately denounced by US Senator Bob Corker…
The value of the Ukrainian hryvynia plummeted yesterday after the Ukrainian central bank decided to raise interest rates and take steps towards adopting a free floating currency, losing nearly 30% of its value. The decision to abandon currency saving measures such as auctions of foreign currency has been widely criticized by the Ukrainian populace, though…
Yesterday, the IMF announced it had received a communiqué from the Mongolian government making an official request for support for their ailing economy, which has seen foreign direct investment plunge some 70% in the past year and a government reconsidering austerity measures versus development of potentially lucrative international mining projects. Mongolia has already received an…
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently paid visits to the country’s leading political and judiciary figures to gauge their reactions to perceived advances in the country’s nuclear talks with the West. The reaction, perhaps surprisingly, has been positive, albeit cautious, and one of the country’s leading hardliners, Ali Larijani, has declared himself “not pessimistic” about the…
Foreign ministers representing the European Union countries agreed to extend existing sanctions against Russia for an additional six months. The extension continues a set of sweeping sanctions that affect Russian companies and individuals to the end of restricting their ability to interact with Western financial systems. The European Union did not, however, agree not to…
The summit organized by the OSCE on Saturday in Minsk, which aimed to end the months of fighting between the Ukrainian military and separatist groups came to an end just hours after the meeting was convened. The talks ended with “no signature” on any proposals, and discussions were unlikely to resume the following day. One…
Unexpectedly, Russia’s Central Bank cut its interest rate by two points, citing a lower risk for inflation given the impending recession and low growth rates. The ruble weakened again against the dollar after the announcement to 72, its lowest level since December. Western economists cited their surprise at this development, and expressed concern that the…
Russian energy major Gazprom announced plans to begin supplying Turkey with natural gas in December of 2016. Gazprom’s plan, as outlined by chief Alexei Miller, is to route approximately 63 billion cubic meters of gas per annum underneath the Black Sea and into Turkey, which would then route it to European markets should the EU…
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