Troubled Sochi Olympics Draw Focus On Caucasus Conflicts
When Vladimir Putin traveled to Guatemala three years ago to personally promote Russia's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, he pledged the Games in Sochi would be "safe, enjoyable, and memorable."
Russia Seeks Tighter Ties With Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia began two days of talks Friday outside Berlin, with Russia asking Germany, and German companies, to help with modernization.
Baltic Sea leaders focus on transport bottlenecks
To increase the ease of business in the Baltic Sea region and the three Baltic states, the bottlenecks in transport and energy need to be solved, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday morning.
Global military expenditure keeps going up, in spite of the crisis
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.
Turkey and US face tough decisions on relations after Israeli flotilla raid
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.
Struggle for Central Asian energy riches
By Richard Galpin BBC News, Moscow Russia pumps oil from Kazakhstan to a Black Sea port for export A year ago, the Kremlin issued a stark warning: that growing competition for control of global energy resources could spark wars on Russia's borders,
Russian domestic gas prices will increase more than 15% next year
Tariffs for gas will rise 15 percent in Russia in 2011, while thermal heating tariffs will rise 12 to 14 percent, Deputy Economy Development Minister Andrey Klepach said on May 31.
Russia hits the reset button, but will it last?
NATO soldiers marching in Red Square on V-E Day; Moscow agreeing on a compromise resolution of the 40-year-old sea-boundary dispute with Norway; the sight of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin kneeling at the memorial to the Polish officers murdered by Josef Stalin at Katyn: These are a few glimpses of what a European newspaper described as a kinder, gentler Russia. But three questions immediately arise: Is this real? Why the change? And how to respond to Russia's new foreign policy?
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