On February 12, Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych paid a three-day visit to gas-rich Turkmenistan to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation and reiterate Kyiv’s interest in resuming direct imports of the Central Asian country’s natural gas, which were suspended in 2006 (Interfax-Ukraine, February 14).

• March 20, 2013

CYPRUS’S finance minister pleaded with Russia for help on Wednesday to avert a financial meltdown after the island's parliament rejected the terms of a European bailout, raising the spectre of a looming default and bank crash.

• March 20, 2013

In the past year, tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions reached unprecedented levels, verging on war. With Israel assigning a “red line” for Iran’s proliferation efforts, the world nervously awaited for a likely Israeli air strike on suspected Iran’s nuclear sites—with all of its enormous political and economic consequences.

• March 20, 2013

Chairman of the Riga Shipyard of the Latvian Republic, Director of the Eiroholdings Company, Vasilijs Melniks, will hold meetings at the State Service of Maritime and River Transport of Turkmenistan and other agencies, State News Agency Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary (TDH) reported on Tuesday.

• March 19, 2013

Kazakhstan could divert its natural gas supplies from the largest deposit in Karachaganak to China if it fails to sign a contract with Russia.

• March 18, 2013

China said on Monday U.S. plans to bolster missile defenses in response to provocations by North Korea would only intensify antagonism, and urged Washington to act prudently

• March 18, 2013

Although the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula has been drawing most international attention, from the perspective of Central Asia, another interesting question is whether the new South Korean government will pursue as vigorous a Central Asian strategy as its predecessor.

• March 16, 2013

Turkmenistan aims to start production by July at the Galkynysh natural gas field, the world's second largest, said its minister of oil and gas as the country seeks to boost exports of the fuel and diversify its markets.

• March 16, 2013