Plans to officially sign documents that would welcome Kyrgyzstan back into the tight embrace of its former Soviet countries are set to be signed on December 23, when Prime Minister Joomart Otorbayev will officially join the Customs Union, which will be renamed starting next year as the Eurasian Economic Union, comprising Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia.…
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow will abandon the South Stream pipeline project. The South Stream project would have consisted of a submarine pipeline running under the Black Sea and into Central Europe. The project quickly lost momentum as relations between Russia and the European Union soured and the EU posed sanctions on the…
The ruble, not faring well for months now, plunged to new depths once again earlier today. This newest nosedive takes it down to levels unseen since the 1998 financial crisis. The currency’s problems are believed to stem mostly from tumbling oil prices (currently flooring at a little less than $80 for the Brent Crude benchmark).…
Multi-billion dollar Indian conglomerate Essar Group will seek to work around Western sanctions to broker an oil-for-steel deal with Iran. India is currently one of the National Iranian Oil Company’s largest clients, while Iran continues to purchase significant quantities of Indian steel in spite of comprehensive sanctions that complicate transacting business with NIOC or other…
Kazakhstan and Afghanistan are participating in active discussions to enter the World Trade Organization, said Director General Roberto Azevedo. The accession negotiations of Kazakhstan in particular are now “at an advanced stage of maturity and on the threshold of conclusion,” according to Azevedo’s statement. The expected date of matriculation will be early next year. Afghanistan…
Under pressure from Western nations concerned with the status of reform projects, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will soon move to form a new government, the first such initiative since the former chocolate magnate took office in October. The delays in forming a government have led to poor delegation of humanitarian and military aid originating in…
Russian President Vladimir Putin is assuring the world that he does not want to run the Russian state for life, but is openly considering running for another six-year term in 2018, according to a new interview with ITAR-TASS. The interview, while never asking direct and hard-hitting questions, does touch on the political cult that has…
Today marked the deadline for P5+1 and Iranian negotiators to come to terms on an agreement concerning the Iranian nuclear program. The probability that a “permanent” agreement would be reached in accordance with the deadline was virtually zero as Iranian negotiators had previously declared a deal before November 24 “impossible” and Western negotiators had already begun to…
With the deadline for the Iranian nuclear deal approaching on Monday, negotiators are scrambling to keep up the pressure on the regime to accede to concessions now rather than parley for another extension. US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted that negotiators push for a deal by Monday and to refuse talks of yet another…
Italian oil major Eni finalized a deal with Turkmenistan that will allow the energy giant to begin exploration in the Turkmen offshore reserve known as Nebit Dag. Turkmen officials had long been in talks with Eni officials, though the deal was ultimately ratified after a visit between Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Turkmen President…
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