Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Russia was the only remaining oil exporter still undecided on the need to extend the global output deal between OPEC and its allies until the end of the year, TASS news agency reported on Monday.

• June 10, 2019

There is a still a risk that oil producers pump out too much crude and prices fall sharply, Russia’s energy minister said on Monday, suggesting Moscow might support an extension of output cuts at a meeting of leading oil producing countries next month.

• June 10, 2019

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would try to help U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un resume talks in an effort to find a breakthrough in their row over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

• June 10, 2019

By Nika Chitadze, PhD, Director, Center for International Studies, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi

As good news is less scandalous, it is rarely spread. However, it is necessary to point out that the percentage of people, who live in poverty, reached a historic minimum in 2018. Unfortunately, there was no appropriate reaction of the international community regarding this development. Over the last 30 years, the number of people who live in poverty has decreased by 1 billion. READ MORE

• June 5, 2019

By Eduard Abrahamyan, Wider Black Sea & Central Asia regional security analyst

While the standoff between adversaries rages on, recent weeks saw an intensified communication between American and Russian high-level officials over the wide array of issues on which Moscow and Washington have contrasting views. On May 14, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and later with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi. READ MORE

• June 3, 2019

By Greta K. Wagner, Student, University of Glasgow, Intern, The European Geopolitical Forum

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 has profoundly impacted the military balance in the Black Sea. Amidst mutual distrust and conflicting insecurity perceptions, militarization has become the dominant security paradigm. Both Moscow and the NATO members in the region are steadily building up their military capacities and engaging in tit-for-tat defense enhancements. READ MORE

• May 21, 2019

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday said he had discussed the purchase of mid-range air defense missiles at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

• May 17, 2019

The quality of Russian crude is gradually improving after a contamination scandal that rocked oil markets, buyers said on Tuesday, but Russia’s energy minister cautioned that it will take until the second half of May to fix the problem.

• May 17, 2019