Diplomacy

Russia has recognised the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent countries and signed friendship and co-operation agreements with them. Just before, Russian president Vladimir Putin in a long and agitated television address to the nation appeared to question the very existence of the Ukrainian state, lambasted the west for its policy towards Russia, accused the Ukrainian government of genocide in the Donbass region and announced the recognition of the two separatist entities.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Saturday ordered the start of strategic nuclear exercises involving launches of ballistic missiles. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, took part in military exercises alongside Putin from a situation centre in the Kremlin. There is intense speculation that Russia will launch an attack against Ukraine in the next days. Speaking to the media in Lithuania on Saturday, U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian forces were beginning to "uncoil and move closer" to the border with Ukraine.

“Allies confirmed that NATO’s door remains open; any decision on NATO membership is for NATO Allies and aspirant countries to take; nobody else", NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday (17 February).

In an exclusive interview with commonspace.eu on the margins of his visit this week to The Hague, Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Teimuraz Janjalia reiterated  his country's commitment to the Association Agreement signed with the EU in 2014. "The Association Agreement provides a basis for a strong value-based partnership between EU and Georgia, and we remain firmly committed to it".

The visit of Recip Tayip Erdogan to Abu Dhabi marks the end of a period of rivalry and opens the prospects of serious co-operation that can be a game-changer in settings across the region.