While its relations with Israel continue to plummet to new depths in the wake of the Gaza flotilla raid, Turkey is considering how to handle the US as Washington tries to balance its ties with Jerusalem and Ankara.

• June 3, 2010

The annual report of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute says that the world has never spent more on defense, in spite of the global financial crisis.

• June 3, 2010

European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said at a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today that the bloc is seriously concerned about the situation in Russia for human rights activists and journalists.

• June 2, 2010

Vilnius is hosting the Baltic Development Forum and the Baltic Sea States Summit. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is expected to meet on Wednesday with regional representatives, including the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Norway.

• June 2, 2010

Afghan security forces patrol ahead of Wednesday's start of a three-day peace conference in Kabul. KABUL—The Afghan government kicks off a national assembly in Kabul Wednesday, the first in a string of events that officials hope will chart a path to reconciliation with insurgents, seize the political initiative from the Taliban and lay the groundwork for...

• June 2, 2010

Russia and the Ukraine got an agreement on nuclear fuel supply for the local atomic plants this year.

• June 2, 2010

Turkey’s importance to the EU should not be underestimated
Turkey’s unique geopolitical position, straddling both Europe and Asia (encompassing its proximity in the Middle East, Caucuses, Balkans, and Black & Caspian Sea regions specifically), has placed the country into a very advantageous position amongst all actors that are involved in any of these areas. Its longstanding membership in NATO and the Council of Europe, in addition to its historical military partnership with Israel, further underscores the fact that Turkey has long been, and continues to be, a partner of strategic importance to the West. Furthermore, with no end in sight to Europe’s reliance on imported Eurasian and Russian gas supplies, Turkey’s territory is the crossroads for the planned NABUCCO gas pipeline, which intends to decrease European reliance on Russian gas.

• June 2, 2010

The head of Russia’s Gazprom on Friday concluded in talks with Ukraine’s energy minister that Gazprom and Ukraine’s state-run energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy, could move toward creating a joint venture on a parity basis.

• June 1, 2010