Kazakhstan has flooded international TV channels with flashy advertisements trumpeting the country’s investment climate.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking after a virtual meeting of bloc foreign ministers, sounded more alarms, and said the Russian troop presence had grown to 150,000 along Ukraine's eastern frontier. Calling it the biggest military buildup ever near Ukraine's borders, he added “a spark” was all that was needed to set off a major war. 

Verbosity is one of the few tangible instruments the West has to try and influence Moscow. It has supplied some military support to Kyiv in the way of weapons sales. But it is in no position – be it NATO, Washington, Berlin, Paris, or the EU - to intervene militarily.  

President Ilham Aliyev this week used only very thinly veiled language in saying “mediators” – which could only mean the OSCE – were not neutral but rather too often bureaucrats only interested in preserving the “status quo”.

Moldova, linked throughout its history to both Romania and Russia, remains mired in a political impasse pitting "pro-European" President Maia Sandu against her "Russian-friendly" predecessor, Igor Dodon.

Though officials cite their reasoning based on reducing greenhouse emissions - and Azerbaijan is a signatory to the Paris accords - a slow but gradual decline in oil and gas export revenues makes the transition a necessity.  

The recent establishment of a special judicial panel to review investment cases or disputes – which formally began work early this year – was another sign of the country’s sprint to attract major international investors.

The assertiveness with which the government of President Ilham Aliyev is purging certain figures suggests a degree of post-war confidence that previous "untouchables" - once too thorny to confront on the backdrop of a war situation - are now fair game.

Is Russia really preparing another military adventure into Ukraine? And what would be its goals?

Georgia’s first decade of independence saw its share of chaos and at times even anarchy. But in the last 20 years, it’s prided itself on political and economic progress. It intends to formally apply for EU membership in 2024. It also wants to join NATO, irritating the country's former Soviet master, Russia.