Features
Perspectives | Russian invasion dealing China a Silk Road economic setback
But Kazakhstan has more to lose.
The sanctioned Belarusian economy
Sanctions keep taking their toll on the Belarusian economy, isolating it yet further from global value chains, although the Belarusian government is trying out new policies to ease the effects from sanctions.
Buying Russian oil is “like eating toxic nuclear waste” again
In the midst of the 1998 financial crisis investor Adam Elstein famously said that he would rather “eat toxic nuclear waste” than buy Russian assets. Russia is back in that place.
Balkan flashpoints after Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Since the invasion of Ukraine, there have been warnings of Russian efforts to destabilise the Western Balkans.
'They don’t know Ukraine': head of peace talks delegation on Kyiv’s 'cautious optimism'
Mykhailo Podolyak, head of Ukraine’s peace talks delegation and an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, explains Kyiv’s “cautious optimism” on progress in the negotiations.
Eastern EU member states divided over sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports
Central and Southeastern European countries are among the most vulnerable to any cut-off in Russian energy exports, but this has not stopped some of them from being very vocal in demanding tougher action.
LONG READ: Winners and losers from the war in Ukraine (and Russia has already lost, even if it wins)
Russia loses from war in Ukraine, even if it wins. China wins from the war irrespective of whether Russia wins or loses. The US also wins from both a Russian victory and a defeat, but its win is less if Russia wins. Everyone else loses.
Russo-Ukraine peace negotiations turn on the “worst possible acceptable deal”
Russian and Ukrainian delegations have been wrestling to find a peace deal in the last week and progress seems to have been made, according to recent comments from both sides, but there is still a gulf to cross.
Hungary’s opposition wants to use EU funds and cleaner procurement to boost education and healthcare
'What we need is not new economic policies but a change in philosophy,' says opposition chief economic adviser Julia Kiraly.
Ukraine wants Nato to close the skies, but what would that look like?
A no-fly zone in all but name could be established by providing Ukrainian forces with significant anti-aircraft weaponry, rather than by the insertion of Nato jets into Ukrainian airspace.
Odesa braces for looming Russian assault
With Russian troops barely 100 km away, the crucial Black Sea port is preparing for brutal urban combat.
Central Asia frets as Russia suspends grain, sugar exports
The Russian government has announced that it intends to extend its ban on the export of grain and sugar to fellow members of a trading bloc until the end of August in a move that has sparked fear of food shortages around the region.
Russian metals are deeply embedded in global markets and hard to sanction
As trade between Russia and West comes under a growing list of sanctions and companies break off ties, Russia is looking for new markets to buy its metals.
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Europe welcomes 2.5mn Ukrainian refugees – but for how long?
On the top floor of Berlin’s central railway station, hundreds of Ukrainian refugees arrive on the 9:51 am train from Wrocław. As the doors open, a woman immediately stumbles and falls to the floor, hitting her head.
Russian currency chaos boosts crypto
After the Central Bank of Russia limited withdrawals of foreign currencies, Russians turned to crypto as a way of hedging and liquidising their assets.
Board members quit Russian companies en masse
The flow of board directors leaving Russian companies has increased in recent days, with Steel giant Evraz and supermarket chain Lenta losing swathes of directors.
Grain-hungry nations look to second-tier emerging Europe producers
The war between two of the world’s top grain exporters, Russia and Ukraine, has sent prices to record levels and forced importers to urgently seek out alternative sources.
Is Russia facing a 1998-like default?
International rating agency Fitch has downgraded Russia's sovereign rating to “imminent default” on March 8 and said that a default is “inevitable.” Is Russia going to repeat its default of 1998?
EXPLAINER: The Moldovan separatist republic of Transnistria
What to expect from the Russia-backed separatist republic on Ukraine's western flank.
EXPLAINER: The Moldovan separatist republic of Transnistria
What to expect from the Russia-backed separatist republic on Ukraine's western flank.
