Egypt will keep administrative control over two Red Sea islands it plans to transfer to Saudi Arabia, according to a government report advising parliament on the terms of the agreement.

• June 11, 2017

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

Trump's hard line approach towards Iran may derail ambitious plans to develop North-South trade and transport corridors in the South Caucasus.
On May 20, 2017, US President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on his first stop of his week-long international trip. The new US President chose the Saudi visit as a focal point for presenting key pillars of his Middle East policy. Delivering a speech to the Arab - Islamic - American Summit, President Trump stressed the significance of the fight against terrorism and the important role regional states have to play in that struggle. Another key point of his speech was tough criticism directed against Iran. READ MORE

• June 7, 2017

Russia scrambled a fighter jet on Tuesday to intercept a nuclear-capable U.S. B-52 strategic bomber it said was flying over the Baltic Sea near its border, in an incident that had echoes of the Cold War.

• June 6, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump told his top diplomat that the dispute over probes into links between his inner circle and Russia should not undermine U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.

• June 6, 2017

California said it would cooperate with China on clean technology, emissions trading and other "climate-positive" efforts in a bid to fill a gap left after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accord last week.

• June 6, 2017

Lithuania has began constructing a two-meter high wire fence along its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad ahead of military exercises Moscow is planning to hold there in September.

• June 5, 2017

China supports Iran's membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security bloc, jointly led by China and Russia, and the subject will be discussed at the group's summit this week, a senior diplomat said on Monday.

• June 5, 2017

The European Union and China failed on Friday to reach agreement on the problem of steel overcapacity and the EU's stance toward Chinese dumping, despite "narrowing differences".

• June 3, 2017