The process of joining customs union may take an accelerated pace, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said during the visit of the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev in Astana, Novosti-Kazakhstan agency says.

• May 10, 2012

A small Chinese company has struck oil in Kyrgyzstan, and leaders of the impoverished former Soviet republic said they hoped the first find by a foreign oil firm would encourage investors to explore its undeveloped energy and metals resources

• May 9, 2012

Lithuania's government gave its final approval to several plans aimed at reducing its dependency on Russian energy sources on Wednesday, including a new nuclear power plant which it said could cost up to 7 billion euros ($9.10 billion).

• May 9, 2012

Resisting US pressure to further scale down oil imports from sanction-hit Iran, India today made it clear that it has to look at the issue involved beyond the energy trade as it has "vital" security stakes in the Gulf region.

• May 8, 2012

World powers should focus on scrapping nuclear weapons and abiding by their own non-proliferation commitments rather than speculating about Iran's peaceful atomic work, the Iranian foreign ministry said

• May 8, 2012

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan's Republican Party won a parliamentary election, early results showed on Monday, in a poll that was seen as a test of democracy in Russia's main ally in the South Caucasus region.

• May 7, 2012

Vladimir Putin took the oath as Russia's president today with a ringing appeal for unity at the start of a six-year term in which he faces growing dissent, economic problems and bitter political rivalries.

• May 7, 2012

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on India Monday to further cut its imports of Iranian oil, saying New Delhi should use its growing clout to help isolate the Islamic republic.

• May 7, 2012