Russia, Georgia To Resume Talks Amid Intensifying Tension (Nasdaq)
GENEVA (AFP)–Georgia and Russia are set to meet Wednesday in Geneva for the sixth time since last October in a bid to find an accord on security arrangements, amid growing tensions following their war last year.
Russian Deputy FM Meets Abkhaz, S.Ossetian Officials (Civil Georgia)
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met separately with Sergey Shamba, the foreign minister of breakaway Abkhazia and Murat Jioev, the foreign minister of breakaway South Ossetia, in Moscow on June 24.
Peres meets with Azerbaijani leader in landmark visit (The Daily Star Lebanon)
Israeli President Shimon Peres met Azerbaijan’s president in Baku Sunday at the start of a landmark visit to the region that will also include Kazakhstan. Peres met President Ilham Aliyev and other officials for talks on “bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues,” Azerbaijani state news agency Azertaj reported.
Georgia: OSCE Terminates Its 17-Year Georgian Mission (EurasiaNet)
BY JEAN-CHRISTOPHE PEUCH The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is effectively affixing the seals on the door of its Tbilisi field office on June 30 and wrapping up its 17-year monitoring operation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone.
Polish Court Frees Chechen Wanted By Russia (Nasdaq)
WARSAW (AFP)–A Polish court rejected Monday a Russian extradition request for a Chechen man suspected of a role in the failed assassination bid against Moscow’s deputy mayor, Jossif Ordjonikidze, in 2002.
Onishchenko Stands Up for His South Ossetian Passport (The Moscow Times)
26 June 2009 The Moscow Times Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s chief sanitary inspector, defended his decision to accept citizenship in another country Thursday, although he admitted that it was against Russian law for government officials to have double nationality.
Ingushetia’s troubles carry echoes of Chechnya – Feature (EARTHtimes.org)
Kiev – With fanfare and press conferences, the Kremlin on April 16 declared victory in its long-running war in Chechnya against separatism and Islamic fundamentalism. But it seems that announcement might have come too soon. For, while the fighting mi…
Islamic revival tests Azerbaijan’s tolerance (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Nearly 20 years after it broke from the atheist Soviet Union, Azerbaijan is seeing a deep religious revival, its ancient capital Baku dotted with new mosques and the Muslim call to prayer echoing through city streets.
Russia clinches gas contract with Azerbaijan (AFP via Yahoo! Canada News)
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AFP) – Russian gas giant Gazprom clinched a deal Monday to buy natural gas from ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, as Moscow seeks to extend its grip on potential European energy supplies in the resource-rich Caspian Sea.
Group with ties to Chechen warlords claims responsibility for suicide bombing that killed 3 (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)
MOSCOW – A Chechen terrorist group with ties to the late warlord Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing attack on a North Caucasus regional leader that killed three, according to a statement posted on a rebel-linked Web site Sunday.
Georgia keeps watch as Russia bans observers and sends in troops (Times Online)
Three shots rang out over the orchard, testament to the tension on Georgia’s new front line. To the policemen hidden behind concrete blocks barely 50m from the Russian border guards and South Ossetian paramilitaries facing them across no man’s land it was just part of the daily provocation.
Militants miss their chance for normal life – Chechen president (Itar-Tass)
GROZNY, June 30 (Itar-Tass) — Militants have missed a chance for normal life; there is nothing for them but prison, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said at the celebrations of the fifth anniversary of the Ahmad Kadyrov special police regiment.
Marking an Anniversary With Harrowing Photos (The Moscow Times)
The war between Georgia and Russia last August may have lasted only a few days, but politicians and analysts are still sifting through the debris to establish what really happened and what it means for the future of the region.
