Kazakhstan, the world’s ninth biggest country by land mass, yet sparsely populated (19 million, or at 197th in density, one of the lowest in the world), might not be associated with the rush to “Green energy”.

Russia’s troop build-up on Ukraine’s border and the threat of a broad full-scale incursion sent alarmed chancelleries scurrying to make calls for Moscow to step back from the brink.

Azerbaijan and Armenia remained in a deadlock as the two antagonists inched forward with the tedious process of demarcating their borders. At the heart of the matter is restoring long-closed trade routes.

Is a new armed conflict possible? France's Macron throws weight around.

A canal dug and brought into service in Soviet times to provide water for irrigation in Crimea – but now blocked and disused – could this be the next flashpoint in the conflict pitting Russia and Ukraine?

Russia has deployed several thousand peacekeepers between the sides. Turkey, which was a major factor in helping Azerbaijan reverse its three decades of losses in a 45-day assault, also has officials in the formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan as part of a joint Russian-Turkish monitoring centre.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has walked a tightrope now for nearly 27 years. He’s frequently shrugged off the “last dictator in Europe”, an “autocrat” and other damning epithets.

Moscow, according to Kyiv, is menacing NATO ships in the Black Sea