The United States is poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition last year of Russian S-400 air defense systems, five sources including three U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, a move likely to worsen already problematic ties between the two NATO allies.

• December 11, 2020

President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Tuesday allowing Russia’s national legislation precedence over international treaties and rulings from international bodies in cases when they conflict with the Russian constitution.

• December 11, 2020

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden next week will jump into the fiery U.S. Senate campaigns in Georgia, two contests that could help push his legislative agenda through Congress if Democrats win both seats.

• December 11, 2020

By Alan Whitehorn, Professor Emeritus in Political Science, The Royal Military College of Canada

There are number of potential stress points in the ceasefire agreement signed by Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, but also agreed to by the president of Nagorno Karabakh on November 9th, 2020. It is a document that was signed under the duress of rapidly deteriorating war conditions for Armenians. Few within Armenia were consulted apart from some senior military leaders. It has not been ratified by the Armenian Parliament. Public disapproval has been extensive READ MORE.

• December 9, 2020

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

Despite being firmly anchored in the Russian sphere of influence, Armenia has been quite successful in developing partner relations with the EU and NATO. In the early 1990s, Armenia joined the NATO Partnership for Peace program, and since 2005 bilateral relations have been developing within Individual Partnership Actions Plans. NATO played a key role in developing Armenia's peacekeeping potential and supported defence reforms, including defence education. Armenian peacekeepers participated in NATO-led operations in Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan; Armenian troops took part in several NATO-led drills; and each year a "NATO Week" was held in Yerevan. READ MORE

• December 9, 2020

By Nika Chitadze, PhD, Professor at the International University of the Black Sea, Tbilisi

As it is well known from recent media reports, a new political crisis has emerged in Georgia after the October 31, 2020 parliamentary elections. The main reason for this crisis is the fact that the opposition parties have claimed that the Central Election Commission and the ruling party “Georgian Dream” have falsified the election results and have usurped the power. The National Democratic Institute and the American Republican Institute have expressed their critical views in this regard. A relatively soft position was stated by the OSCE Office for Democracy and Human Rights and the Council of Europe. READ MORE

• December 9, 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Belarus was facing unprecedented meddling by external forces and he called on opposing political forces to try to resolve their differences through talks.

• December 2, 2020

Europe must stand up for its values in its dealings with China, but given the country’s sheer population and economic importance, there will always be a trade-off between the EU’s values and its interests, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

• November 30, 2020