Russia usually stays out of the Caucasus information wars, but the crisis in Ukraine is re-igniting disputes over who is to blame for Georgia’s frozen conflicts.
In our weekly briefing: The Taliban visit Ashgabat, the dauphin is received by Uzbekistan’s president, and authorities tighten control after unrest in neighboring Kazakhstan.
The president has doubled down on his claims that terrorists with foreign backing are behind the protests, which began this week over fuel prices then snowballed.
The Russia-led security bloc will be sending peacekeeping forces, the first time in its history that its collective security provision has been exercised.
There was much to discuss just over a year after the end of the war, including ongoing border tensions, plans to reopen borders and transportation, and the fate of Armenian prisoners.
The question of whether Uzbekistan should join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, with its single market of 184 million people, has provoked fierce debates.