New START turns five
Little is going well in U.S.-Russia relations right now. Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, major differences over Syria, and the more bellicose tone coming out of the Kremlin have helped drag the bilateral relationship to its lowest point since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. A bright spot One of the few bright spots is...
Russia is turning Crimea into a military base
In the comment to the website Novoe Vremia, Director of Military Programmes of the Razumkov Centre Mykola Sunhurovskyi spoke about how Russia was turning Crimea into a military base to confront NATO, and explained why Ukraine would not be able to return the peninsula in the nearest future. In Crimea, Russia is using the principle of forward...
EU donates vehicles to OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine
KYIV, 3 February 2016 – The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) received 20 armoured vehicles donated by the European Union (EU) today during an official handover ceremony held outside the SMM’s head office in Kyiv. The EU’s donation is part of its support to the OSCE in working towards the stabilization and normalization...
Ukrainian Minister Labels Poroshenko Ally Corruption Mastermind
Aivaras Abromavicius quits, accusing president’s man of trying to implant shady officials at the Economy Ministry. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
A Common Energy Market in the Eurasian Economic Union
To the east of the European Union a regional energy market is taking shape under the auspices of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Even if the interests of the participating states diverge and the ultimate shape of the market remains unclear, the development is likely to be substantial. On the one hand, it threatens to deepen the fragmentation...
Ukraine is almost as corrupt as before
This year Ukraine is ranked 130 out of 168 positions, sharing the same position with Cameroon, Iran, Nepal, Nicaragua and Paraguay. There are only 38 countries more corrupt than Ukraine – Transparency International. UAT: Ukraine is almost as corrupt as before …read more Source: The American Center for a European...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 1 February 2016
The SMM observed continued ceasefire violations in the wider Horlivka area, but a lower number of ceasefire violations in areas at and around Donetsk airport compared to the two previous days. It continued to visit heavy weapons holding areas and permanent storage sites. In violation of the Mission’s mandate and the Package of Measures,...
The South Caucasus concert: Each playing its own tune
The countries of the South Caucasus have very different interdependent relations with the European Union (EU), Russia, Turkey, the United States (US) and Iran. Tensions between the EU-US and Russia over Ukraine are further entrenching these interdependent relations and hampering development in the South Caucasus. How can Brussels increase its...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 31 January 2016
This report is for media and the general public. The SMM observed a large number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. It continued to visit heavy weapons holding areas and permanent storage sites. The Mission encountered freedom-of-movement restrictions, mostly in areas not controlled by the Government*. It continued to facilitate and...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 27 January 2016
This report is for media and the general public The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In Luhansk region, it also observed instances of ceasefire violations, including live-fire training. The Mission’s freedom of movement was restricted, mostly in areas not controlled by the Government.* In Zaitseve, the SMM...
