Middle East News & Analysis

Middle East

Russia’s trade and investment into the Middle East is rapidly developing, with relations both through the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League all helping boost bilateral trade by 25% during 2025. Partially driven by the developments along the INSTC, and new regional free trade agreements, we provide analysis of the growing Russia-Middle East economic partnership. Discover trade statistics, investment flows from the GCC, and business opportunities for companies in both regions.

Featured January 22, 2026

Lavrov Speech: Russia’s Strategic Economic Diplomacy in 2026

On Tuesday, January 20, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov convened his traditional annual press conference in Moscow to review the performance of Russian diplomacy in 2025 and set out the foreign policy and economic agenda for 2026. At this event—attended by hundreds of journalists—Lavrov emphasized that the diplomatic focus is no longer solely about geopolitical […]

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Featured January 22, 2026

Russia Begins Greenhouse Substrate Exports To Saudi Arabia

Russia’s Technonicol has begun exporting greenhouse substrates produced at the corporation’s plant in Krasny Sulin in the Rostov region to Saudi Arabia. The first batch of products included mineral wool cubes intended for germinating tomato seedlings in greenhouses. Technonicol’s products were delivered by sea from Novorossiysk to Jeddah via the Bosporus and the Suez Canal. […]

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January 22, 2026

Putin Ready To Accept Membership Of Trump’s “Board Of Peace” Initiative

Moscow is ready to contribute to US President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ initiative, President Vladimir Putin told the Russian Security Council on Wednesday (January 21). He suggested donating the required US$1 billion membership fee to the body out of the Russian assets frozen in the US to support the recovery of the Palestinian enclave. […]

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January 20, 2026

US Court Approval Required To Restructure Gazprom’s Equity Stake In Hungary and Serbia Oil Sector

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 […]

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January 20, 2026

Rosatom Preparing To Start Turkiye’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant 

Russia’s Rosatom state owned nuclear power company is preparing to start operation of the first power unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkiye, doing start-up and adjustment work and a comprehensive check of all systems. The final control stage, cold and hot break-in, is expected to be implemented in the near future before […]

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January 17, 2026

Turkish Investors To Build Agricultural Machinery Plant In Dagestan

The government of the Republic of Dagestan and representatives of MKB Group of Ankara, Turkiye have discussed building an assembly plant for agricultural machinery in the Russian region, mainly for tractors, the Dagestan export support center has stated. Rizvan Gazimagomedov, Dagestan’s deputy prime minister, said that “The launch and localization of production will provide impetus […]

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January 9, 2026

Russia’s Pivot To Asia – 2025 Website Coverage & Results

Russia’s Pivot To Asia now enters its third full year of operations and has over the past months and years developed into a primary source of non-partisan, data-based commentary about what we see as the largest geopolitical shift in Eurasia for 800 years – Russia’s Pivot to Asia and the Global South. A question often […]

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January 7, 2026

Russia, Iran To Launch Ulyanovsk–Astara Shipping Route

Russia and Iran are preparing to launch a new shipping route linking Ulyanovsk and Astara, in a move aimed at expanding bilateral trade and strengthening logistical connectivity between the two countries. The planned route will connect Russia’s Ulyanovsk with the Iranian port city of Astara, creating a new transport corridor for agricultural and industrial goods. […]

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December 30, 2025

Islamic Bank Expected To Open In Russia In 2026

An Islamic bank may open for services in Russia in 2026, according to Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market and chairman of the council of the Association of Banks of Russia. He stated that “We are now actively working on creating an Islamic bank in Russia. We are […]

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December 26, 2025

Russia Resumes Overnight Flights To Israel

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) has lifted restrictions on night flights from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. from Russian to Israeli airports. The agency stated that “The decision was made after a thorough analysis of the Middle East situation and coordinated by the agency with the corresponding departments.” In the winter schedule for […]

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December 17, 2025

The Eurasian Economic Union As Part Of A Eurasian-International Transport System

The 24th Plenary Session of the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) has been taking place in Dubai, with Vladimir Serpikov, the Director of the Trade Policy Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), participating. Significant topics included the development of container transportation in Euro-Asian traffic, the simplification of cross-border operations, and ensuring a […]

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