April 2015

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has commented on granting loan by Poland and told where the money would go to.

China’s public offer to mediate peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government marks a notable departure in Chinese foreign policy. It is the first time Beijing is taking a genuine leadership role, on its own initiative, on a geopolitical issue both sensitive and significant.

Hungary plans to simplify the visa regime for Kazakhstani citizens, Tengrinews reports citing the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

Tehran will not sign the final agreement on its nuclear program reached by the P5+1 group if all sanctions are not lifted, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

Germany and the newly appointed European Commission have different visions for Europe's future, which has caused tension between the two, writes global intelligence company Strafor.

Confrontation of Tehran and Riyadh Becomes Dangerous

European Union officials hope that among the outcomes of the upcoming May 2015 Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit in Riga will be a new and more flexible cooperation framework for redefining the EU’s relations with Armenia and other neighboring countries. Indeed, Latvia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers (January–June 2015), announced that one of its priorities would be a further development of the EaP with greater consideration given to the partner countries’ individual preferences (Azatutyun.am, November 27, 2014). After two rounds of consultations with Armenian officials, the head of the EU delegation to Armenia, Traian Hristea, expressed hope that a new framework for cooperation could be agreed upon. He also mentioned that establishing a united European economic area might be discussed at the Riga summit (Haykakan Zhamanak, February 16, 2015).

Turkey condemns the persecution of Tatars in Crimea and will shortly send an observer mission to the peninsula annexed by Russia, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated in Vilnius on Friday.

Negotiators from Iran and major world powers reached agreement on a framework for a final agreement to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions, participants in the talks said.

The European Union is working on adapting its 2007 strategy for Central Asia with a greater emphasis on different approaches to relations with individual countries, a top European diplomat said.

An exclusive interview with the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov addressed the March 30 French-German regional meeting of ambassadors, thanking them for their work on revising the EU Strategy for Central Asia and stressing the need for increased effort – and funding – for economic growth and integration and even calling for a “Central Asian Marshall Plan” to support regional development.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to discuss bilateral relations, economic contacts, cooperation within NATO, and security in the region.

Ukraine has said it wants to restore natural gas deliveries from energy-rich Turkmenistan as it tries to reduce reliance on Russia for the fuel.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the U.S. House Armed Services Committee chairman and its members to discuss military, economic and energy cooperation between Lithuania and the United States, the current security situation in Europe as well as the situation in Ukraine.