By Eugene Kogan, Tbilisi-based defence and security expert

It can be ascertained that until the Russian illegal annexation of Crimea, in March 2014, the Black Sea Region was perceived as a region with certain problems, but certainly not of a military nature. As a result, this region was neither high on the international community agenda nor on the radar screen of the NATO member states, and that despite membership of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey in NATO. Furthermore, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government thought back in 2014 that they were capable to handle President Vladimir Putin’s Russia single-handed, NATO assistance was not required, and non-NATO members such as Georgia and Ukraine should not be involved. READ MORE

• January 24, 2019

Any attempts by the United States to stop Europe buying Russian gas via additional sanctions against Moscow would be an attack on the continent’s sovereignty, a German business group said on Friday.

• January 20, 2019

President Vladimir Putin opened Russia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) on Tuesday, saying it bolsters the country’s energy security.

• January 20, 2019

President Vladimir Putin opened Russia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) on Tuesday, saying it bolsters the country’s energy security.

• January 11, 2019

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday threatened to route the country’s trade in oil and oil products exclusively through the Baltic states, and said Minsk’s relations with Russia could break down over a festering subsidy row.

• January 11, 2019

Any attempts by the United States to stop Europe buying Russian gas via additional sanctions against Moscow would be an attack on the continent’s sovereignty, a German business group said on Friday.

• January 11, 2019

President Vladimir Putin opened Russia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) on Tuesday, saying it bolsters the country’s energy security.

• January 9, 2019

Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday in volatile trade, drawing support from signs that Saudi Arabia is cutting crude output but pressured by concerns that slowing global economic growth could dent demand.

• January 9, 2019