The head of the liberal Yabloko party is skeptical about prospects for implementing the political reforms proposed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday, saying that the outgoing president would not have enough time to follow through on them.

• Date: 22.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 22.12.2011  |  Markets  |  from rian.ru

Ukraine wants to pay its sole gas supplier Russia no more than $250 per thousand cubic metres, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said on Wednesday.

• Date: 21.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 21.12.2011  |  Energy  |  from uk.reuters.com

France and Turkey are heading toward a showdown this Thursday, as France moved to make denial of the Armenian genocide a crime punishable by a 45,000-euro fine and a year in jail – and an apoplexic Turkey threatened to retaliate if the sensitive matter was dealt with in this fashion.

• Date: 21.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 21.12.2011  |  External Relations  |  from haaretz.com

Saudi crude exports to China have surged, strengthening the Asian country's hand in a price dispute with Iran.
Last month's exports of Saudi crude to China rose by 32 per cent over the same period last year to 4.81 million barrels per day (bpd), almost half of the kingdom's current production, Chinese customs data released yesterday showed.

• Date: 21.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 21.12.2011  |  Energy  |  from thenational.ae

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev discussed the possibility of Kyrgyzgaz's privatization by Gazprom with the company's head Aleksey Miller in Moscow on Monday, RIA-Novosti reports.

• Date: 20.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 20.12.2011  |  Energy  |  from en.trend.az

France's foreign ministry on Tuesday warned Turkey against economic reprisals over draft French legislation that would make it a crime to deny that Armenians had suffered a 'genocide' at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

• Date: 20.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 20.12.2011  |  External Relations  |  from monstersandcritics.com

Truth be told, the worst thing in the world that could happen – next to a nuclear war between Pakistan and India – would be a nuclear conflict in northeast Asia and the Korean peninsula. In both cases, millions, or tens of millions, could die. And it’s possible to envision a disoriented, paranoid North Korean leadership triggering a war with South Korea and its allies, with the ever-present danger that such a war could escalate if North Korea used its stockpile of nuclear bombs. In addition, the flow of countless refugees across the border into China would likely involve Beijing in the crisis instantly.

• Date: 20.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 20.12.2011  |  Energy  |  from thenation.com

Ukraine will reach a compromise deal with Russia on gas supplies in a few days, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Monday, contradicting previous statements by Moscow which expected no deal to be made this year.

• Date: 19.12.2011  |  Published on EGF: 19.12.2011  |  Energy  |  from af.reuters.com