A Syrian opposition leader is undermining chances for proposed peace talks by saying that foes of President Bashar al-Assad will only attend if they make military headway first, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

• July 10, 2013

Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea, the defense ministry said in its first annual report since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office.

• July 9, 2013

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during June 16-30th 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Germany again blocks Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, citing the AKP government’s response to the Taksim Square protests.
• Turkey’s leading official in charge of EU negotiations criticizes German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the matter.
• Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan continues assertions that foreign powers are at play behind the protest movement.
• A lack of evidence to this assertion, and the obvious lack of a “Deep State” that he subdued continues to make Erdogan look like a leader proffering conspiracy theories rather than listening to protesters demands.
• NABUCCO (West) meets its end when Shah Deniz Consortium chooses TAP pipeline project on June 28.
• NABUCCO’s end is a result of over a decade of rising cost and changing geopolitical positions of the stakeholders involved.

• July 9, 2013

Talks aimed at creating the world's largest free trade zone between the European Union and the US are set to open amid tensions over spying and protected industries.

• July 8, 2013

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas

Key points:

• The Lithuanian Supreme Court postpones its hearing of Gazprom’s complaint against the Lithuanian Court of Appeal; RWE Supply and Trading CZ wins a gas price dispute with Gazprom in the Vienna Commercial Court; Gazprom fails to bid for Greece’s gas distribution system operator, DEPA; Gazprom officially announces its plans to construct an LNG export terminal on Russia’s Baltic coast; Gazprom predicts a year-on-year increase in gas exports in 2013
• Gazprom pays Ukraine $1bn in an advance for gas transit fees until 1st of January 2015; Gazprom is not pursuing legal action against Naftogaz Ukraine for failing to meet its ‘take or pay’ commitments; There are no ongoing talks about the establishment of a consortium to manage Ukraine’s gas transportation system (GTS)
• Gazprom continues to examine the potential for a second line of the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Europe via Belarus
• Gazprom confirms that the construction of South Stream’s offshore section will begin in the second quarter of 2014, to be launched in 2015; Collapse of the Nabucco pipeline project clears the way for South Stream in South-East Europe
• Gazprom and GDF Suez agree to explore the possibility of expanding the Nord Stream pipeline
• Gazprom and CNPC aim to sign gas supply contract by the end of 2013; Gazprom and the Japan Far East Gas Co. Ltd sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the latter’s participation in Gazprom’s Vladivostok LNG project.
• Gazprom’s Chairman and Chief Executive are re-elected at the company’s Annual General Meeting; CNPC purchases a 20 percent stake in Novatek’s Yamal LNG project

• July 8, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a law branding some non-governmental organizations "foreign agents" should be changed to prevent harassment of groups that are not involved in politics.

• July 5, 2013

For Egypt's military chiefs, the final spur to rebellion came on June 26. That day top generals met Mohamed Mursi, the country's first democratically elected president, and spoke bluntly, telling the Islamist leader what he should say in a major speech he planned as protests against him intensified around the country.

• July 5, 2013

Russia urged North Korea on Thursday to help pave the way for a resumption of international talks and told Pyongyang that ending the standoff over its nuclear program would bring economic benefits.

• July 5, 2013