#Kazakhstan is growing more possessive of its petroleum products as a gasoline shortage tightens its grip in #Russia and the #US-Iran conflict reignites.

#Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to #Kyrgyzstan produced lots of hopeful rhetoric but no substantive trade deals.

#China has walked away from the #Anaklia Deep Sea Port project, ending speculation over one of #Georgia’s most important infrastructure projects. The Georgian government now says it wants to develop and operate the port on its own.

After mounting an unsuccessful campaign to sink #Armenian Prime Minister Nikol #Pashinyan’s reelection chances, #Russia is now telling him that it is time to bury the hatchet. 🔗 eurasianet.org/pashinyan-tr...

#China is planning to deploy a constellation of over 1,000 remote-sensing satellites to observe #CentralAsia, according to China’s official news outlets Xinhua and The People’s Daily.

The downfall of #Kyrgyzstan’s former state security services boss, Kamchybek Tashiev, has ended with a conviction on a coup conspiracy charge and probation.

Despite lingering tension between the #UnitedStates and #Iran, #Kazakhstan is planning to build a terminal at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to facilitate exports.

#Kyrgyzstan is the leader in #CentralAsia in making progress toward sustainable development goals, according to a #UN report.

Boxing legend Evander #Holyfield is making a comeback of sorts. He is mulling plans to open a boxing academy in #Bishkek, the capital of the Central Asian nation of #Kyrgyzstan, according to local media reports.

The ripple effect from a severe gas shortage in #Russia caused by #Ukrainian drone strikes is being felt in #CentralAsia, where seasonal demand is rising.

The signs are multiplying that Vladimir #Putin’s powers of coercion are rapidly fading, and his chief instruments of regional leverage are dissolving.

#China’s state-owned conglomerate Sinopec Engineering Group has reached an agreement with Australia-based Allied Biofuels to conduct engineering, design and construction work on a $6.1 billion biorefinery project in #Uzbekistan.

#Kazakhstan’s Muftiate, the chief administrative body for Muslims in the Central Asian nation, has issued a religious ruling that calls on young people to resist the temptations of modernity and procreate.

#Pakistan has approved and operationalized new land routes to connect Central Asian markets to Pakistani ports and beyond, utilizing strategic corridors through #Iran and #China to bypass #Afghanistan entirely.

Fresh off a convincing victory in a fiercely contested parliamentary election, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol #Pashinyan is wasting no time in trying to integrate #Armenia firmly into the West’s security and economic architecture. 🔗 eurasianet.org/armenia-putt...

Grappling with a severe shortage, #Russia is seeking to purchase a significant volume of gasoline from neighboring #Kazakhstan. Astana appears hesitant to fulfill the request, however, apparently concerned that doing so might entail consequences for the Central Asian nation’s own energy exports.

Fresh polling data shows a vast divide separating #Georgia’s governing class from the governed when it comes to the future direction of the country.

#Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to #EU’s headquarters in #Brussels has yielded agreements and MoUs potentially valued at over 12 billion dollars. The key deal involves the purchase of 50 Airbus passenger jets for 7.1 billion euros. 🔗 eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-a...

#Azerbaijan is working hard to coax #Turkmenistan out of its shell and integrate Ashgabat into trans- #Caspian trade routes.

A partner post from the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst.

The governments of #Kazakhstan and #Uzbekistan are pressing ahead with efforts to build rail and road connections through Afghanistan to connect #CentralAsia to South Asian and Persian #Gulf seaports.

The head of #China’s National Energy Administration, Wang Hongzhi, visited #Kazakhstan to participate in the inaugural meeting of the #Kazakhstan-China Joint Working Group on Cooperation in Civil #Nuclear Energy.

The problem of water scarcity is becoming one of the main challenges for the sustainable development of #CentralAsia.

This essay is part of a series by American diplomats sharing their impressions of the dramatic early years of Central Asia’s independence from the Soviet Union. These memoirs were written at the invitation of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.

The daily protests in #Tbilisi have now gone on for more than 500 days, fueled by the government’s decision in November 2024 to suspend accession talks with the #EuropeanUnion. #Georgia

#Azerbaijan and #Uzbekistan are strengthening economic connections, signing a variety of agreements covering mining, banking and tourism.

During a recent trade event in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, #Chinese and #Kazakh officials agreed in principle on 24 different projects to develop Alatau City, a futuristic urban center intended to become a regional hub of finance and digital innovation.

The extended disruption caused by the #US-Iran conflict highlights a need for diversifying energy export routes to reduce dependency on shipping via the Strait of #Hormuz.

#Armenia is taking action that has the potential to undermine the credibility of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union #EAEU by seeking redress for recent trade barriers imposed by the Kremlin on Armenian goods.

The #EuropeanUnion’s patience with #Georgia’s government is running out. After months of mounting dissatisfaction in #Brussels over Georgia’s political trajectory, EU leaders say their latest round of talks on June 11 with Georgian officials to address Brussles’ concerns proved “rather fruitless.”

With a decisive victory in the June 7 parliamentary election secured, #Armenian Prime Minister Nikol #Pashinyan now has to deliver on his promises. Chief among them, his foreign policy reset. 🔗 eurasianet.org/armenian-ele...

The #UnitedStates and #Uzbekistan are working to expand business-to-business contacts with the aim of expanding #US trade and investment in some key economic sectors, including mining, energy, IT technologies, agriculture and artificial intelligence.

Central Asian soccer is having a moment, as #Uzbekistan makes its debut at the #FIFA World Cup tournament, which begins June 11.

Civil society across Central Asia faces an increasingly restrictive environment marked by the consolidation of authoritarian control.

#US and Central Asian officials will meet June 11-12 in the #Kazakh capital Astana to explore deals concerning the mining and processing of critical minerals.

The Chinese-dominated territory of Hong Kong signed 61 agreements with Kazakhstan and 35 with Uzbekistan worth collectively $1.65 billion during a visit to the two Central Asian states by the territory’s chief executive, John Lee Ka-chiu.

#Armenia appears ready to press ahead with its geopolitical transition away from Russia toward the West after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party registered a convincing victory in the country’s June 7 parliamentary election.

A video posted on the social media platform X May 22 features what appears to be a news update from Euronews, claiming #Armenian Prime Minister Nikol #Pashinyan has aggressive cancer with two to three years to live. It also purports that Pashinyan assaulted his press secretary’s personal assistant.

Top level officials from Central and South Asia convened in Tashkent on June 4 to discuss regional trade and connectivity under a format known as the #Termez Dialogue.

#Kazakhstan has plans to overhaul its college admission process to make it more equitable. The technology designed to enable the process is largely untested.

#Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary election has become a referendum on Prime Minister Nikol #Pashinyan’s effort to move the country out of #Russia’s orbit and normalize relations with #Azerbaijan and #Turkey. 🔗 eurasianet.org/armenias-ele...

While #Turkmenistan’s insular, authoritarian government is taking baby steps to open the country’s economy to international trade, it continues to tighten its hold over the flow of information.

Tether, the world's largest #stablecoin issuer, has announced a major investment in #Georgia and plans to launch GEL₮, a digital token pegged one-to-one to the Georgian lari, a currency used only within the country of 3.7 million.

#Kazakhstan is quickly racking up debt to #China, and Astana’s obligations to Beijing appear poised to keep growing in the coming years. 🔗 eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-t...

Experts from the #Kazakh water-management agency Kazvodhoz held talks recently with representatives of the #US Bureau of Reclamation on ways to reduce water use in the agricultural sector, the Kazakh news outlet InBusiness kz reported. The US Embassy in #Astana facilitated the discussions.

#Russia has mulled an extraordinary measure of exporting humans to #Armenia in an effort to undermine Prime Minister Nikol #Pashinyan’s chances of retaining power in the fast-approaching parliamentary elections on June 7, according to an investigative report published by the Reuters news agency.

On May 31, the world will mark World No #Tobacco Day. It is an especially poignant day for war-torn #Ukraine, where heavy smoking is a byproduct of war, military service and stress.

When can a deal involving #Russia be considered as done? When it comes to Russia’s agreement to build #Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, it is hard to determine.

The #UnitedKingdom is slapping new sanctions on a wide variety of entities and individuals in #Kyrgyzstan and #Georgia for serving as a “backdoor” for #Russian sanctions evasion efforts.

Recently signed deals between #Georgia and #Azerbaijan are raising fresh questions about Tbilisi’s strategic direction and energy security. The deals flowed out of a May 18 meeting in Baku between Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.