Russia’s relationships with Europe vary from warm, with trade partners such as Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, to the frigid (most of the European Union and the UK). In between are lesser discussed regions in the Balkans with closer historical ties to Moscow than to Brussels. We examine some of these borderline areas and provide analysis and updates where appropriate along the Russia-European axis.
A ceremony to pour the first concrete for the Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary has taken place, according to Rosatom, the Russian state corporation carrying out the project. They stated that “The first concrete for the reactor building’s foundation marks the facility’s transition to the status of ‘nuclear power plant under construction’ according […]
Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller has been discussing collaboration in existing and prospective projects with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Board Chairman Dai Houliang in Beijing, according to Gazprom. A company statement says, “The reliable operation of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, the eastern route, was particularly noted. Gas supplies via the pipeline totaled 38.8 […]
Trade turnover between Belarus and Russia rose 5.6% in 2025, with trade in services showing even higher growth rates, the Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin stated on Monday (February 2). Turchin was in Moscow at a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Belarus Union State. He said that “Russia bolstered its status as […]
This past week, the small Swiss resort of Davos yet again became the temporary capital of a self-appointed global elite. Under the banner of the World Economic Forum (WEF), political leaders, multinational CEOs, financial institutions, and technology giants gathered behind closed doors to discuss the global economic prosperity. Nearly 65 heads of state and government […]
The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) is preparing for trading in platinum bullion, SPIMEX president Igor Artemyev has stated, and is collaborating with Norilsk Nickel on the matter. The Russian Ministry of Finance also has a specific interest in organizing the trading, though legislation will be required to permit such trade. Artemyev said, “We […]
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For much of the post-Cold War period, the Arctic existed outside the main currents of global geopolitics. Covered by ice, distant from population centers, and governed by cooperative mechanisms, the High North was widely perceived as a region immune to confrontation. This assumption has gradually dissolved. Climate transformation, technological adaptation, and global power redistribution have […]
Moldova has launched the procedure for officially withdrawing from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi has said. The CIS was formed in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR to promote cooperation regarding economic, political, and security issues among the former Soviet republics. It currently includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, […]
Russia’s Kirill Dmitriev is to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual Davos meeting of global leaders, the first time a Russian has attended since the WEF suspended participation in 2022. Dimitriev is the CEO of Russia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, RDIF and has been involved in negotiations over settling the Ukraine conflict. He is due to […]
Further proof of European acquiescence to the United States has shown itself in that European mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyers now need to gain accreditation in the United States to handle some cross-border M&A deals in the European Union itself. The convoluted arrangement has manifested itself through a complex agreement concerning Russia’s Gazprom and Hungary’s […]
Russia’s fishing industry has discontinued the use of the UK’s Inmarsat satellite terminals to track its fishing vessels. Instead, it has switched to using exclusively Russian orbital constellations (Gonets, Yamal and Express) since January 1 to transmit vessel location data to the industry monitoring system (IMS), the Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) has stated. The move […]
The new threats by US President Donald Trump to place an additional 25% tariffs on European exports entering US markets emphasize just how naïve European politicians have been when it comes to international diplomacy and foreign affairs. In threatening such measures should the EU (and specifically Denmark) do not agree to cede Greenland to the […]
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