The first meeting of the international expert group on development of a new international legal document, the main goal of which is to ensure the following to the general principles of doing business in the global energy space, took place in Ashgabat.
When President Vladimir Putin said last week he was ditching a $45 billion pipeline to Europe under the Black Sea, he put forward a Plan B. Russia would build a pipe to Turkey and then ship it overland to Greece and on to the rest of the continent.
Energy Union, the flagship initiative to wean the EU off its dependence on Russian gas, faces regulatory, financial and political obstacles that can delay or prevent funding for vital infrastructure, the EU Task Force on Investment has warned.
For the first time in decades, the U.S. is no longer the largest economy in the world, and China has become number one, the International Monetary Fund says.
The European Commission's new energy chief says that Russia could revive the South Stream natural-gas pipeline project if it follows EU rules.
Distinguishing diplomatic rhetoric from official policy is never easy. But it is especially difficult in China, where the government’s actions so often fail to match its statements. Given this, it is worth asking whether the latest slogan adopted by Chinese officials – “Asia for Asians” – is merely nationalist posturing for domestic consumption or a signal of a genuine policy shift.
RUSSIA’S unacknowledged war in Ukraine did not start with the annexation of Crimea. The precedent was set six years earlier, during a five-day war between Russia and Georgia that resulted in Russia’s occupation of the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Unwilling to confront Russia directly, Western leaders instead blamed the recklessness of Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s president at the time. That was when Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, reportedly began talking about Crimea.
NATO and Kiev representatives are to meet in Brussels on 2–3 December 2014 for political consultations on Ukraine’s full membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. But how realistic is such a discussion in the light of the current internal and foreign policy challenges facing the Kiev authorities? What is the likelihood of a clear and final positive decision being made with regard to Ukraine’s membership of NATO as a result of the two-day consultations? Tatyana Parkhalina, Ph.D. in History, Deputy Director of the RAS Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences, Head of the Centre for Global and Regional Problems and RIAC expert; Dmitry Danilov, Ph.D. in Economics, Head of the European Security Department at the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Europe and RIAC expert; and Andrey Baikov, Ph.D. in Political Science (MGIMO) and Editor-in-Chief of the journal “International Trends” discuss the situation.
The Ad hoc Committee of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has issued a final decision in favor of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the arbitration case against Dutch company KT Asia Investment Group BV (KT Asia) indirectly owned by Mukhtar Ablyazov.
EU urges Turkey not to undermine Western sanctions against Russia and insists on Ankara closer cooperation in the fight against "Islamic State". An official visit of the EU representatives to Turkey this week has been designed to give new impetus to often stressful relations between the EU and Turkey.
In mid-December the Republic of Kazakhstan celebrates the 23rd anniversary of its independence. In the intervening years since the Soviet collapse Kazakhstan for the successful social and economic reform became the leader of the former Soviet Union. While earning the trust of the international community. Moreover, Kazakhstan's initiative today are finding acceptance and practical application.
Turkey will unlikely to agree to Russia’s new gas pipeline deal that would allow Russia to establish control over such a gas trading hub, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Director of the International Centre for Defense Studies in Tallinn, Matthew Bryza told Trend.
Sweden will enhance its military capacities and seek closer cooperation with NATO in response to Russia's increased military activity in the Baltic Sea. However, the country does not plan to join the Alliance, Sweden's Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said in Vilnius on Friday.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has assured the European Commission that the Ukrainian energy system is ready to provide for stable natural gas transit, the information and public relations department of the secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has reported.
We sat down and talked with USAK Asia-Pacific Research expert Selçuk Çolakoğlu about Turkey-Afghanistan Relations and the future of Afghanistan.