The city of Kherson on the Black Sea coast was the biggest prize seized by Russia in the first month after its invasion on 24 February. Now there are suggestions that Russia might be about to give up at least part of it as it prepares defensive lines for the winter.

• November 7, 2022

Three more vessels left Ukrainian ports on Tuesday, the UN-led centre co-ordinating the Black Sea grain export deal said, despite a Russian decision to suspend its backing of the scheme.

• November 2, 2022

Days after Russia suspended support for grain exports through the Black Sea, it has agreed with Turkey to restart its participation in the agreement.

• November 2, 2022

Ukraine has carried out a "massive" drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, damaging one warship, Russia says.

• October 31, 2022

Russia has announced it is suspending its involvement in the internationally-brokered deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports.

• October 31, 2022

Ukraine says 12 ships loaded with grain left its Black Sea ports on Monday, despite Russia's withdrawal from a key deal facilitating exports.

• October 31, 2022

By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”

A survey was recently conducted by the Tehran International Studies and Research Institute (TISRI) to study international security priorities and Iran’s foreign policy. The survey was conducted among 384 academic scholars in different Iranian universities (Tehran, Allameh Tabataba’i, Tabriz, Guilan, Shiraz and Razi of Kermanshah) and among researchers and experts in the Caucasus region. The survey resulted in certain proposals calling for an Iranian foreign policy shift toward the South Caucasus, identifying geopolitical risks and providing suggestions on how Iran can help in stabilizing the region. According to the study, it seems Iranian scholars, experts and analysts are concerned about the security and geopolitical risks in the post-2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war regional system in the South Caucasus. Here are the concluding results of this study. READ MORE

• October 29, 2022

By Nuray Alekberli, Researcher, Strategic Studies Consulting Company, Baku

In August 2022, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia have signed an "Agreement amongst three countries on preliminary information exchange for the facilitation of transit customs procedures within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project" (az.trend.az, 19 August). This agreement aimed at simplifying customs procedures and accelerating border crossing procedures within the framework of the BTK railway project through organizing an electronic exchange of initial information about goods (report.az, 18 August 2022). Therefore, somehow it plays the role of a new breath from a technical point of view to remove obstacles and speed up trade and economic relations between Asian markets and Europe. READ MORE.

• October 29, 2022