By Nika Chitadze, PhD, Director, Center for International Studies, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi

Since the first years of the restoration of independence, Georgia and Ukraine tried to establish close relations with the European Union. In the beginning of 1990’s, the European Union had already its own concrete position towards both states and considered the development of a regional partnership with post-Soviet republics as a main goal. The EU was promoting the integration of the new independent states to the international community and providing internal stability. EU’s CFSP was taking into consideration the same strategy toward all the post-soviet republics – Russia, Ukraine, as well as the South Caucasus or the Central Asian states. The purposes of EU on the way of transformation of those republics were practically similar. READ MORE

• April 17, 2019

Oil prices halted their rally on Monday, with both benchmarks down nearly 1 percent, after Russia’s finance minister said Russia and OPEC may decide to boost production to fight for market share with the United States, where output remains at record highs.

• April 15, 2019

Russian authorities blocked a regional news website over the weekend over a report about graffiti insulting Vladimir Putin, its chief editor said, under a new ban on insulting officials online.

• April 15, 2019

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

On March 4, Romania, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan held a ministerial meeting in Bucharest—the first such quadripartite gathering for these governments. During this meeting of their foreign ministers, the parties issued a joint statement reaffirming mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of their internationally recognized borders. Additionally, a number of other important issues were raised in Bucharest, including a discussion on establishing a multimodal corridor for the transport of goods between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea basins, a project officially named the Caspian Sea–Black Sea International Transport Corridor (ITC-CSBS). READ MORE

• April 9, 2019

One of the key Russian officials to foster a supply pact with OPEC, Kirill Dmitriev, signalled on Monday Russia wanted to raise oil output when it meets with OPEC in June because of improving market conditions and falling stockpiles.

• April 8, 2019

One of the key Russian officials to foster a supply pact with OPEC, Kirill Dmitriev, signalled on Monday Russia wanted to raise oil output when it meets with OPEC in June because of improving market conditions and falling stockpiles.

• April 8, 2019

Oil prices rose to a five-month high on Monday, driven by expectations that global supplies would tighten due to fighting in Libya, OPEC-led cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

• April 8, 2019

Turkey has proposed to the United States that they form a technical working group to determine that Russian S-400 missile defence systems do not pose a threat to U.S. or NATO military equipment, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

• April 3, 2019