In this region, neighbouring Georgia is automatically associated with wine. Azerbaijan, by contrast, is rarely associated with viniculture, though its roots run deep.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 24, the Kremlin press service said. The situation involving Azerbaijan and Armenia was a central topic.

Eight Ukrainian reactors will now run with U.S. fuel instead of the Russian variant.

Realising that fossil fuels would not last forever, Kazakhstan took steps to diversify its economy. This included a new focus on its tourism industry. Though under-developed, officials knew it was an area that had much to offer.

The remaining issues are border demarcation between the two former Soviet countries. As well as the issue of re-establishing a trade and transit corridor via Armenia between the rest of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave.

Georgia has effectively abandoned its efforts to advance on the membership issue. True, the work on cooperation and various partnership packages, in itself important, continues. But the membership issue itself has been put on the back burner.

With over 90 percent of the vote counted, the 46-year-old journalist and writer’s Civil Contract party held an insurmountable lead of 54-21 percent over the “Armenia” bloc headed by 67-year-old ex-President Robert Kocharyan – a far more overwhelming result than expected.