Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, St. Petersburg, Russia, June 18, 2015 (Official Kremlin photo).

At last week’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian and Greek officials negotiated a framework agreement for Greece’s participation in the Turkish Stream gas pipeline that, if realized, will transport Russian gas via the Black Sea and Turkey to European markets. The deal comes just a year after the European Union adopted a comprehensive strategy to enhance its energy security, with a key objective being to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian energy sources. However, if the Russia-Greece deal and other developments of the past year are any indication, this campaign could take decades […]

The Russian navy ship Smolny, with about 400 Russian sailors aboard, leaves the port of Saint-Nazaire, France, Dec.18, 2014 (AP photo by Laetitia Notarianni).

Russia has been skillfully using its ground forces to support pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine and keep NATO guessing over Russian intentions in that country, the Baltic states and Moldova. In addition, Moscow’s air force has for the first time since the Cold War sustained a high tempo of operations in NATO’s vicinity for more than a year. But the revival of the Russian navy has been another key element of Moscow’s use of military force to press its great power status. Naval considerations were actually a major factor driving Moscow’s insistence on maintaining control over Crimea. The naval base at […]

Estonian army scouts practice defensive maneuvers during Exercise Steadfast Javelin, May 11, 2015 (NATO photo).

Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that the United States is seriously considering stationing hundreds of American troops, along with heavy weaponry, in the three Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Baltics, all of which are former Soviet republics bordering Russia as well as members of the European Union and NATO, have found themselves in an increasingly vulnerable position since Russia began intervening militarily in Ukraine last year. All three are home to large Russian-speaking minorities, whose controversial status could serve as justification for a Russian attack. In recent months, NATO and Russia have been staging military drills […]

Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian prime minister and leader of the ruling conservative VMRO party, at a rally in front of Parliament, Skopje, Macedonia, May 18, 2015 (AP photo by Boris Grdanoski).

A popular revolution against a corrupt, authoritarian government; a new battleground between Russia and the West; an attempted coup by barely-reconstructed communists against a democratically elected government; the latest failure by a flailing, out-of-touch European Union. These are just some of the narratives swirling around Macedonia, where an apparent government wire-tapping scandal has set off a months-long political crisis. In recent weeks, the situation has even acquired an ethnic tinge, deeply unwelcome in a country that fought a brief war against ethnic Albanian insurgents in 2001. This week brought some respite, with an EU-brokered deal to hold early elections by […]

Citizens greet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Odessa, Ukraine, May 30, 2015 (AP photo by Mykola Lazarenko, Presidential Press Service Pool photo via AP).

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, elected last year after his pro-Russian predecessor Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in the Maidan uprising, delivered his first annual message to Parliament yesterday. In it, he denounced the country’s pervasive corruption and called for significant reforms, while also accusing Russia of violating the Minsk agreement that established a cease-fire in embattled eastern Ukraine in February. Poroshenko, a billionaire whose business history drew suspicion from the U.S. State Department before he took office, may seem to be an unlikely reformer. His recent battles with Ukraine’s powerful oligarchs are ostensibly about establishing the rule of law, both to […]