Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Possible Introduction of Russian Peacekeeping Forces Into Karabakh Opposed by Armenia
A resolution of the “frozen conflict” between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Karabakh region—though internationally recognized as legally part of Azerbaijan—continues to slowly move forward. The question is what form it will take, and what outside powers will be most influential in promoting it. The Armenian press has recently been...
Russia Threatens Georgia With Renewed Trade War
The Russian government regularly uses its agency for consumer protection, Rospotrebnadzor, for trade discrimination and blocking imports from countries whose policies Moscow does not like (see EDM, March 28, 2006; October 11, 2013; October 16, 2013). On August 4, 2015, Rospotrebnadzor issued a warning to Georgia about the “low quality” of...
Shyrokyne ‘Demilitarized Zone’: Russia’s New Idea of Conflict-Management in Ukraine’s East
Russia proposes to turn the Ukrainian stronghold Shyrokyne, key to defending the strategic Azov sea port city of Mariupol (Mariupil), into a “demilitarized zone” under joint or shared control by Ukraine, Russia and the “Donetsk people’s republic” (“DPR”), under the indispensable aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in...
Shyrokyne: Strategic Asset, Political Symbol on Ukraine’s Azov Sea Coast
The Contact Group on Ukraine (Minsk Group) has recently been debating a proposal to turn the Ukrainian stronghold Shyrokyne, key to defending the Azov Sea port city of Mariupol (Mariupil), into a “demilitarized zone.” The Contact Group—comprised of Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Donetsk...
Ukraine Skeptical Toward Buffer Zone Proposal in Minsk Contact Group
Soon after the signing of the Minsk Two armistice (February 2015), the Minsk Contact Group began considering a further set of military disengagement measures in Ukraine’s east. The Minsk Contact Group—Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE), and the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR,...
Minsk Ceasefire Unenforceable, Unverifiable in Ukraine’s Russian-Controlled Territory
On August 10, a battalion-sized strike force supported by artillery and armor of the Russian-led “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) attempted to break through Ukrainian lines at Starohnativka, on the distant approaches to Mariupol from the north. This attack came promptly after Ukraine had declined to sign the new document on military...
Two Chechen Battalions Are Fighting in Ukraine on Kyiv’s Side
It did not come as much of a surprise when the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, acknowledged that pro-Russian Chechens were involved in the conflict in Ukraine. This was something that everybody knew, but no Russian official had previously confirmed. In an interview with the state news agency RIA Novosti, Kadyrov stated: “All Chechen...
August in Donbas: Will the War Spread?
The speaker of the Duma (Russian lower house of parliament), Sergei Naryshkin, published an article in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta this week (August 9), making dark predictions about August and attacking the United States for being a global menace. The month of August, he writes, has traditionally featured evil happenings and wars in...
Debates on Finlandization for Ukraine
The issue of Ukraine’s prospective future membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) surfaced again recently with the publication of the latest public opinion poll, according to which, a historical high of almost 64 percent of Ukrainians supports joining the North Atlantic Alliance (UNIAN, August 3). But as the...
Lukashenka’s Interview With ‘Unfriendly’ Media Outlets
On August 4, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka gave a 4.5-hour-long interview to journalists representing three media outlets not run by the Belarusian state. Ranked in ascending order of their history of vociferous criticism of the Lukashenka regime, these outlets included Tut.by, Belarus’s leading privately owned news portal; Euroradio, an...
