Russia despatched a flotilla of warships to its naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus on Tuesday in an apparent show of support for President Bashar al-Assad.

• July 10, 2012

A senior Russian official said Monday that Moscow is halting its weapons sales to Syrian authorities until the situation there calms down.

• July 9, 2012

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev on the 72th birthday over phone on Friday. In the telephone conversation Putin and Nazarbayev also discussed preparation for the bilateral cooperation forum of the two countries which will take place in September, Russian presidential press-service reported.

• July 6, 2012

Russian-Tajikistan relations are becoming strained over Russia’s military base on the territory of the Central Asian Republic. Moscow accused the Tajik government of demanding unacceptable conditions to renew the lease on the No. 201 military base and suspended its funding. Tajikistan called Russian stance politically inappropriate, Kommersant reported.

• July 6, 2012

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector1 Key points:

• Gazprom Chairman of Board of Directors Viktor Zubkov and CEO Alexei Miller retain their positions as the Gazprom Annual General Shareholders Meeting elects a new Board of Directors and approves record dividends of 8.97 Roubles per share
• Gazprom’s Annual General Shareholders Meeting also approves Gazprom’s Annual Report 2011, which marks a record-breaking year for additions to gas reserves, sales revenues, net profits, and investment in the gasification of Russia’s regions
• The first string of Nord Stream reaches full capacity. Construction of the second string was completed in April, with deliveries scheduled to begin in October

• July 6, 2012

Russia on Wednesday denied holding talks with the United States about offering Syrian President Bashar al-Assad exile as a way out of 16 months of bloodshed that has claimed more than 16,500 lives.

• July 4, 2012

The Russian Defense Ministry will not allocate funds for the 201st Russian military base (RMB) in Tajikistan, head of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Nikolai Makarov said, Avesta.Tj reported with reference to Russian media.

• July 3, 2012

The ministerial agreement on Syria brokered by U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan on Saturday marked a shift in the positions of China and Russia, which have been at loggerheads with Western powers, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

• July 3, 2012