Afflicted by an unusually cold spell, and with diplomatic tensions in its neighbourhood adding pressure on energy supplies, the European Commission is backing future gas deliveries from Azerbaijan, irrespective of the pipeline used, Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told dpa in an interview conducted in Brussels this week.

• February 10, 2012

"We are ready, upon official request from Russia, to grant extra gas to Europe," said Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko. In his interview to CNN, the Ukrainian minister explained that currently Ukraine receives 400 million cubic meters of gas per day on its eastern border instead of the required 500 million due to extremely cold weather in Russia. This caused a drop in the amount of gas Europe received through Ukrainian pipeline.

• February 10, 2012

Turkmenistan has unilaterally closed the border with Kazakhstan in the run-up to the presidential elections on Feb. 12. Security measures at the border were strengthened in connection with the upcoming presidential elections in Turkmenistan. Foreigners entering the country in a simplified manner will temporarily fail to do this from Feb. 8-15.

• February 9, 2012

Earlier this week I criticized Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice for their high-volume indignation over Russian and Chinese vetoes of a UN resolution that would have called on Syria's president to step down. And I still think Clinton and Rice were hypocritical, given America's long tradition of overlooking the atrocities of dictators who are as close to America as Bashar al-Assad is to Russia.

• February 9, 2012

Azerbaijan restarted natural gas deliveries on Thursday to Turkey from its giant Shah Deniz field, a spokeswoman for operator BP told Reuters.

• February 9, 2012

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev during bilateral meetings with the heads of leading economic unions, banks and companies of Germany, actively engaged in the process of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, called the heads of the German companies to more actively use existing reserves and potential of cooperation, the press-service of the president said on Wednesday.

• February 8, 2012

Over the past year the US has courted the former Soviet states of Central Asia as it bolsters its supply line to its forces fighting in Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, once considered a pariah state for allegedly shooting demonstrators and torturing prisoners, has become an important ally.

• February 8, 2012

France and Britain have expressed doubts about Russian efforts to mediate in the Syrian crisis. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he does not believe any commitments announced by the Syrian regime, including those made on February 7 to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Damascus.

• February 8, 2012