By Eduard Abrahamyan, Wider Black Sea & Central Asia regional security analyst

On October 24-26, a U.S. State Department delegation headed by National Security Adviser Ambassador John Bolton visited the South Caucasian republics after talks in Moscow. The delegation’s visit to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia was immediately dubbed a reinvigoration of U.S. policy towards the Caucasus and a pragmatic reengagement with the conflicted region. Bolton appeared to refine the evolving U.S. priorities with each country, categorizing them in accordance with political capabilities, shared interests and the roles that Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia respectively seek in relations with the West. The visit, however, caused an angry reaction from Moscow, especially given the issues Bolton raised in Yerevan. READ MORE

• December 21, 2018

The European Union is investigating a cyber hack of its diplomatic communications, allegedly by Chinese hackers, that revealed EU concern about U.S. Donald Trump, Russia and Iran, the bloc said on Wednesday.

• December 21, 2018

Russia’s top business people will discuss the threat of new U.S. sanctions with President Vladimir Putin next week, Alexander Shokhin, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told reporters on Wednesday.

• December 21, 2018

Russia is seeking to boost its power in Europe and grip over Ukraine with the proposed Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, the top U.S. energy diplomat said on Monday, in a step-up of Washington’s rhetoric against the pipeline.

• December 12, 2018

By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

On November 19, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a long-awaited official visit to Belarus, where he met with his counterpart, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. On this occasion, the Belarusian and Azerbaijani state news agencies praised the level of bilateral strategic cooperation, widely citing Lukashenka’s words to Aliyev: “Belarus has been waiting for you” (Belta, November 19). The Azerbaijani president’s trip to Minsk coincided with “growing frictions” between Belarus and Armenia, two formal allies within the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). READ MORE

• December 11, 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would be forced to respond if the United States exits the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces arms control treaty.

• December 7, 2018

Ukraine said on Tuesday it had resumed grain shipments from the Azov Sea, blocked for around 10 days after a military standoff with Russia in the Kerch Strait off Crimea.

• December 7, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would discuss military developments with his counterparts from China and Russia in the future, in the hopes of ending what he described as an arms race with the countries.

• December 7, 2018