Russia said on Monday it was ready for dialogue with Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's next president, but warned the Kiev authorities not to step up armed operations against separatists in the east.

• May 26, 2014

Russia will pull back all forces deployed to regions near its border with Ukraine "within a few days," a deputy defense minister said on Friday, a move that if carried out could ease tensions around Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday.

• May 24, 2014

China warned Japan on Friday to stay out of a growing dispute with its neighbors over the South China Sea, as the Philippines implicitly accused Beijing of delaying talks aimed at a solution.

• May 24, 2014

Russia and China vetoed on Thursday a resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country's three-year civil war.

• May 23, 2014

China and Russia signed a $400 billion gas supply deal on Wednesday, securing the world's top energy user a major source of fuel and opening up a new market for Moscow as it risks losing European customers over the Ukraine crisis.

• May 23, 2014

Global business leaders are thin on the ground at Russia's main investment conference in the face of government pressure to stay away because of the Ukraine crisis, but the Kremlin has advised Russian media not to make a big deal of it.

• May 22, 2014

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has criticized separatist referendums in Ukraine and warned Russia not to take any more ex-Soviet territory after annexing Crimea, Russian media reported.

• May 22, 2014

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics between 16 April – 15 May 2014
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Turkey faces up to the worst mining disaster in its history, while the prime minister bungles the official response. A deputy chief of staff for Erdogan is photographed kicking a protester, and accusations are levelled that the prime minister himself struck another.
• Turkey’s top judge, with the prime minister in attendance, rebukes Erdogan in public statements in light of government criticism of the country’s top courts.
• While Turkey’s economic growth relies on substantial imports of Russian energy, the fate of the Crimean Tatars seems to remain outside the Turkish regional agenda.
• Alawites and Alevis, two religious minorities who largely support the opposition CHP, face an increasingly uncertain political future.
• In remarks to an American journalist, Prime Minister Erdogan says the country will pursue extradition of Fethullah Gulen from the U.S.

• May 22, 2014