(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Russia & Caucasus: News & Insights - Nikkei Asia

Russia & Caucasus

16 June 2025
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and others attend a plenary session at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2024.
Huawei Technologies and 600 other entities were recently added to Taiwan's export control list.
Trade war

Taiwan adds China's Huawei and SMIC to export control list

Move aims to further restrict outflow of advanced tech from the island to its larger neighbor

15 June 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.S. President Donald Trump that Moscow was ready to continue negotiations with Ukraine after June 22.
International relations

Putin speaks to Trump, condemns Israel's strikes on Iran

Leaders agree nuclear talks with Tehran still on table in 50-minute call, Kremlin says

15 June 2025
Kazakhstan has said it will sign an agreement with China's state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation for a nuclear plant.
Energy

China, Russia firms to lead building of Kazakhstan's 1st nuclear power plants

CNNC and Rosatom will guide separate consortiums for the projects

14 June 2025
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks at the Astana International Forum on May 30. (Kazakhstan government)
Trade

Central Asian trade route stirs to life, drawing European investment

Middle Corridor grows in importance as alterative to Russia, Suez routes

14 June 2025
An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis transshipment complex in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Russia, on Oct. 11, 2022.
Energy

Japan buys Russian crude oil for first time in over 2 years

Sakhalin Blend import ensures stable LNG supply for country

12 June 2025
Odesa residents walk by an apartment hit by a Russian drone strike on June 10.
Ukraine war

Russia supplies drone production tech to North Korea: Ukraine official

East Asia security could be impacted, says Kyiv's military intelligence chief

12 June 2025
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said Germany's move to position troops in her country is "of critical significance." (Photo by Shihoko Nakaoka)
Interview

Lithuania to lift military spending to 5.5% of GDP: minister

Dovile Sakaliene says US is right to ask Europe to contribute more for defense

11 June 2025
Finnish President Alexander Stubb tells a University of Tokyo audience on June 10 that the West must change the power balance if it is to preserve its international institutions. (Photo by Kenji Kawase)
11 June 2025
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leaves the trade talks with China in London on June 10.
11 June 2025
Fire and smoke rise in Kyiv, Ukraine, after a Russian drone strike on June 6. 
Ukraine war

Intense Russian air attack on Ukraine's capital kills four

Kyiv says Russia launched drones and cruise missiles

6 June 2025
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker and European defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 5.
Defense

NATO on cusp of accepting Trump's 5% defense investment demand

Rutte cites 'broad support' within alliance after meeting of defense ministers

6 June 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a video meeting with members of the government on June 4. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/pool via Reuters)
Ukraine war

Putin tells Trump that Russia has to respond to Ukrainian attacks

US president said conversation won't 'lead to immediate peace'

5 June 2025
With his frustration increasing, U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured here on May 26, as Moscow has hit Ukraine with some of the three-year-old war's deadliest drone and missile attacks.
Ukraine war

Trump says Putin is 'playing with fire' as Russia makes gains in Ukraine

Ukraine claims Moscow is trying to carve out 'buffer zone' in north

28 May 2025
Emergency workers extinguish a fire in the debris of a house that was destroyed in a Russian rocket strike in the Kyiv region of Ukraine on May 25. 
Ukraine war

Trump says Putin went 'absolutely CRAZY' with night attacks on Ukraine

US president raises possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia

27 May 2025
Philippine and U.S. forces conduct joint drills earlier this month in northern Luzon. (Photo by Yuki Fujita)
Indo-Pacific

US-Philippine military exercise joined by Japan, South Korea forces

Asian partners seek deeper cooperation to counter China-Russia-North Korea ties

27 May 2025
Steel production from recycled scrap at a foundry in Peshawar, Pakistan.
International relations

Pakistan, Russia to rebuild steel plant Soviets operated until 1992

Modern mill promises multiple economic benefits including reduced imports

26 May 2025
Firefighters try to put out a fire following a Russian attack in the Kyiv region in Ukraine on May 25.
Ukraine war

Russia's massive drone-and-missile attack kills 12 in Ukraine

Zelenskyy posts "deliberate strikes on ordinary cities" on X

25 May 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka during 2019.
Ukraine war

Trump says Russia and Ukraine to start immediate talks on ceasefire

US president apparently didn't secure major concessions from Putin during 2-hour call

20 May 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO members after his phone with Vladimir Putin. 
Ukraine war

Trump says he will speak with Putin and Zelenskyy on Monday

Phone call with Russian leader to cover Ukraine war, trade, US president says

18 May 2025
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chairs a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul on May 16. (Turkish Foreign Ministry/handout via Reuters)
Ukraine war

Russia: Ukraine talks yield prisoner swap deal, plan for more dialogue

Negotiations would resume after each side outlines vision for ceasefire

17 May 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim deliver a joint media statement following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 14
International relations

Malaysia PM discusses MH17 downing with Russia's Putin

Putin calls thorough, comprehensive investigation that is not politicized

15 May 2025
A Malaysian investigator inspects the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2014.
Transportation

UN aviation body rules Russia downed Malaysian airliner in 2014

Australian foreign minister urges the ICAO to move swiftly to determine remedies

13 May 2025
Russia is a key partner in Vietnam's nuclear power project. The cooling towers of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant are seen here from the town of Kurchatov, in Russia's Kursk Region, on Aug. 27, 2024.
Energy

Vietnam and Russia agree to expedite a nuclear power deal

Hanoi also agrees to buy crude oil and LNG from Russia

12 May 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is ready to meet with his Russian counterpart.
Ukraine war

Zelenskyy urges Putin to come to Turkey if he wants talks

Trump, contradicting his own envoy, tells Ukrainian leader not to wait for ceasefire

12 May 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 11. (Photo by Sergey Bobylev/Host agency RIA Novosti via Reuters)
Ukraine war

Putin offers direct peace talks with Ukraine after 3 years of war

'Negotiations without preconditions' could be held on Thursday in Istanbul, president says

11 May 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony before their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 8.
International relations

Xi Jinping calls on Putin to help defend rights of developing countries

Chinese president's Moscow visit expected to boost trade as global tensions boil

8 May 2025
Russian military vehicles in Moscow rehearse for a military parade on Victory Day, which this year will mark the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
International relations

Xi to join Russia's 80th WWII celebrations as 'guest of honor'

Leaders from about 20 countries set to attend, the most since Ukraine invasion

6 May 2025
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Rio de Janeiro on April 28. His offer to broker a settlement is contingent on "a mutual desire on the part of Islamabad and New Delhi."
India-Pakistan crisis

Russia offers to act as mediator between India and Pakistan

Lavrov says Moscow 'ready to' settle tensions that resulted from 'terrorism'

5 May 2025
The two countries signed the accord in Washington after months of sometimes fraught negotiations.
Ukraine war

US, Ukraine say they sign deal for joint investment fund

Draft said it would give US preferential access to natural resources

1 May 2025