Russia
Albania
An advocacy for giving precedence to the EU’s Copenhagen Criteria in the Western Balkans
Among the precious little remaining friends of a quick EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans, the threat of non-friendly powers encroaching in the region...
Austria
New sanctions against Russia are inevitable
The sentencing of Alexey Navalny to three and a half years in a penal colony, on trumped-up charges, was a grotesque infringement of elementary...
Finland
Twilight of the Russian gods?
Alexey Navalny's three and a half years sentence in a penal colony is supposed to be a punishment for having violated his parole conditions...
Archive
In time of pandemic, OPEC+ stands pat, sees oil rebound this year
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, reportedly maintained its oil output policy at...
Archive
US, Russia extend New START nuke arms treaty
The United States and Russia on February 3 completed the necessary legal procedures to officially extend the New START treaty for five years, avoiding...
Archive
Medvedev says Russia is ready to disconnect from global Internet
Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said the country is “legally and technologically” ready to disconnect from the global internet if needed.In 2019,...
Analysis
A new dawn for Libya brings hope for regional stability
While it may seem as though only one subject has dominated the news for the past year, and our lives came to a very...
Archive
Greece, Bulgaria team for hat trick on Russian gas
Greece and Bulgaria advanced the development of three natural gas projects this week that will lessen the two countries’ dependence on Russian gas.Greece’s parliament...
Archive
Biden and the EU’s fight against climate change and disinformation
President Joe Biden has made clear his foreign policy objectives for his first 100 days in office. Clear signals have been sent about a...
Archive
Russia’s Gazprom and LUKOIL mull JV for developing fields in Nenets area
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov discussed current issues related to cooperation on January 22 in St Petersburg,...
Archive
EU to debate sanctions on Russia after Navalny protest arrests
The Foreign Ministers of the European Union could consider fresh sanctions on Russian individuals on Monday, after more than 3,000 people were arrested across...
China
With Navalny’s arrest, Russia hands Biden his first test on human rights
Alexey Navalny’s arrest upon his return to Russia on Sunday has handed newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden his first challenge from the Kremlin in office.Navalny...
Albania
Out in the cold: SE Europe in dire need of vaccine supplies
With the COVID-19 pandemic steadily worsening across much of Europe, the citizens of the continent’s Southeast European region have been left out of much...
Archive
After Navalny arrest, MEPs want plug in Nord Stream 2 pipeline
The European Parliament passed a resolution on January 21 calling on EU member states to immediately stop work “once and for all” to complete...
Archive
Hungary approves Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine
Hungary has become the first country in the European Union to give preliminary approval to the Russian coronavirus vaccine "Sputnik V", in a bid...
Archive
EPP’s McAllister says EU should ‘reassess’ relations with Russia after Navalny’s arrest
Addressing MEPs on Tuesday, the head of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister said the EU needs to "reassess" its "already strained"...
Archive
Navalny calls for street protests after 30-day sentence
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has urged Russians to take to the streets to protest against the government and salvage their future, as the...
Archive
Baltic FMs call on the EU for ‘firm diplomatic measures’ to push Russia for Navalny’s release
In a letter sent to the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, the Foreign Ministers of the Baltic states have called for "additional firm...
Archive
Western govts tell Russia to free detained opposition leader Navalny
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was rushed to a court hearing inside a police station on Monday, a day after he was detained at a...
Africa
Potential head of presidential council looks fit to pull Libya out of quagmire
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)-brokered Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) has so far failed to bring the light at the end...
Africa
NATO voices concerns over Russian military presence in MENA region
Russia's increasing military presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a matter of "great concern" for NATO, its Secretary-General Jens...
Archive
Moscow to reopen schools, extend other coronavirus curbs
Moscow authorities have extended the COVID-19 restrictions for another week, with the exception of pupils returning to schools from Monday.Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Thursday...
Archive
Slick OPEC+ scheme boosts prices: Saudis cut, Russia, Kazakhstan raise
Oil prices climbed more than 4% on January 5 after OPEC+ reached an unusual production quotas agreement, with Saudi Arabia committing to cut the...
Archive
Stunned world reacts to Capitol Hill disruptions
Even though the January 6 disruptions in Washington that resulted in five deaths are seen to fall exclusively in the domain of the term...
Armenia
The global political game in the South Caucasus is finally settled
The regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, have now been finally liberated as a result of counterattacks by the Azeri Army against the Armenians...
Archive
US intelligence agencies say Russia ‘likely’ behind government agency hack
The United States government on Tuesday said that Russia was “likely” behind a massive hack of government and private company networks discovered last month.The...
Archive
Merkel, Putin discuss possible joint vaccine production
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed cooperating on vaccine production during a telephone call on Tuesday, according to a statement issued...
Archive
OPEC+ allows Kazakhstan to increase oil production in February and March
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - OPEC+ countries reached agreement on the terms of the deal for February and March. Russia and Kazakhstan, which has raised the...
Archive
Russia admits COVID deathtoll is three times higher at 186,000, second only to US
Moscow has admitted that more than 186,000 Russians have died from COVID-19, making the toll more than three times higher than previously reported.The country...
Archive
Crude oil price rally may face supply side pressure in early 2021
Oil traders are optimistic the start of the deployment of vaccines means that an end to the worst economic ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic...
Archive
Lay that pipe: Work on Gazprom’s Russia-German gas line will resume
From January 15, two gas pipelines for Nord Stream 2 will be laid and trenched by the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna, assisted by the construction...
Archive
Europe turns the tables on Russian gas
As we move into 2021, Southeast Europe’s concern about security and diversity of energy supply and over-reliance on Russia gas is now history, a...
Analysis
Secretary Pompeo lets Turkey know what Washington really thinks
In an exchange that warmed the hearts of all Greeks and Greek Cypriots everywhere and was reported as front-page news, US Secretary of State...
Archive
OPEC+ likely to extend oil cuts seeing slow fuel demand recovery from vaccines
Oil prices climbed to their highest in more than eight months on November 25 fuelled by continuing hopes that energy demand will recover once...
Archive
US sanctions aim at stifling Nord Stream 2 gas line
Sanctions that could halt the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have been reportedly included in the annual US...
Archive
Russia, Saudi Arabia eye COVID-19 oil cut to hike prices
Russia and OPEC-kingpin Saudi Arabia are reportedly mulling to delay an increase in oil production in January, maintaining an output cut aimed to raise...
Archive
Russia, Saudis push COVID-19 oil supply cuts on OPEC+
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have urged fellow oil producer countries in OPEC+ to stick to supply cuts agreed...
Archive
Polish fine against Gazprom over Nord Stream 2 unlikely to ever be paid
Poland anti-monopoly watchdog has fined Russian gas giant Gazprom $7.6 billion over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is unlikely to ever be...
Archive
Germany’s LNG quid pro quo to US to stave off Nord Stream 2 sanctions
Berlin reportedly offered to spend €1 billion to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals if Washington agreed not to impose sanctions on the...
Archive
France steers EU attention to Greece-Turkey standoff in East Med
French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a strong position in support of the rights of Greece and Cyprus, calling on Turkey to stop unilateral...
Archive
Navalny incident hurts Russia’s image but not Nord Stream 2
Pressure is reportedly mounting on Angela Merkel as opposition parties are asking the German Chancellor to abandon Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia...
Archive
US walks alone in Iran sanctions, EU goes other way
The European Union remains committed to implementing the Iran nuclear deal as a matter of respecting international agreements and of the bloc’s shared international...
Archive
Too much supply, too little demand, OPEC+ wants production cuts
Fearing slow oil demand recovery, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, during a meeting on...
Archive
Disdaining US threats, Germany, Russia forge ahead with Nord Stream 2
Despite the frictions that have strained relations between Berlin and Moscow, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on August...
Archive
Moving to check Russia, China influence, US names Arctic advisor
Facing increasing Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic, the US State Department has appointed Jim DeHart as the US Coordinator for the region....
Archive
EU energy future wants to wean off China’s raw materials
The European Union is as dependent on Asian countries, especially China, when it comes to batteries and raw materials for technologies of the future...
Archive
Oil reflux: OPEC+ pumps up volume after COVID-19 cutback
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its oil producing allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, reportedly agreed on...
Albania
North Macedonia’s elections unfold, marginally, as directed
To the delight of North Macedonia’s western supporters, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) landed a razor-thin electoral majority on July 15 in...
Archive
Denmark allows Nord Stream 2 to complete pipeline hit by US sanctions
Danish Energy Agency on July 6 gave Nord Stream 2 permission to use pipelaying vessels with anchors to complete the final stretch of the...
Archive
EU aim: Keep US from imposing more Nord Stream 2 sanctions
The European Union is reportedly considering counter sanctions against the US if the latter targets European companies over the controversial Nord Stream-2 pipeline from...
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