Japan and Russia are to jointly build a liquid natural gas (LNG) plant in the Russian port of Vladivostok, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

• December 11, 2010

ISSUE #18
11/12/2010

Leader of «Batkivschyna» Party Yulia Tymoshenko called the recent local elections the dirtiest and the most unfair elections in the whole history of independent Ukraine.
She noted that the results of the elections should have been made public no later than November 5th, however as of November 9th the results of the elections had not been yet announced. In her opinion this proves that the Government is still tempering with the results of the elections in order to get a favorable outcome. «We can not accept such results», - she said. She called Viktor Yanukovych the key organizer of the violations that took place during the elections. «The President has a personal political responsibility for the planned falsifications that occurred during the elections», - the leader of «Batkivschyna» Party said. Along with that she added that her Party will defend the rights of its members to vote and be elected in the European Court of Human Rights. READ MORE

• December 11, 2010

The leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have adopted a Declaration on the establishment of a Single Economic Area between the three countries.

• December 10, 2010

Ukraine could boost its own energy security by attracting investors to the oil and gas deposits in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, the government said.

• December 10, 2010

While President Obama presses the Senate to embrace a new arms control treaty with Russia, another nuclear pact with Moscow cleared its final hurdle on Thursday after more than four years with virtually no notice but potentially significant impact.

• December 10, 2010

ISSUE #17
11/05/2010

Many European observers expressed their opinion that local elections in Ukraine did not meet the standards set by the Council of Europe, in particular as to their transparency, fairness and professional conduct. This opinion was expressed namely by the Head of the Delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Gudrun Mosler-Tornstrom. The European Union (EU) Committee for Regions representative Teet Kallasvee notes that the election proved the weakness of the new law «On Local elections» adopted only three months prior to the elections. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affaires and Security Policy Catherine Ashton expressed her concern regarding the accounts of violations in the course of voting in Ukraine which undermine people's trust in the electoral process. Similar concerned were also voiced by the European Parliament (EP) Deputy, Co- Chairman of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Pawel Kowal. He noted that the final report on Ukrainian local elections prepared by the EP observers would focus on the preparations for the elections, their conduct and the vote count. READ MORE

• December 10, 2010

Former President George H.W. Bush is urging the Senate to ratify a nuclear arms pact with Russia.

• December 9, 2010

Reviewed by Professor Andrej Kreutz

Due to both her theoretical approach and substantial arguments, Helen Belopolski’s monograph differs greatly from many other works, which have been published on the subject of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy.

• December 9, 2010