Russia-Ukraine crisis

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Russia-linked LNG tankers transferred to new UAE firm amid sanctions pressure

The three vessels — Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov and La Perouse — were transferred in September to a new Dubai-based company called Matias Ship Management, according to shipping data website Equasis.

United Arab Emirates

Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, shakes hands with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Sept. 12, 2024.

Analysis

From Syria to Ukraine: What’s driving Moscow’s thinking on Israel-Iran conflict?

Russia is concerned about spillover from the Iran-Israel conflict into Syria but believes that the situation in the Middle East could bolster its war effort in Ukraine, experts told Al-Monitor.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Iranian missiles exhibited in a park on January 20, 2024, in Tehran, Iran.

Senior Iranian official visits Russia amid pressure over alleged missile transfers

The missile transfer allegations, coupled with looming, fresh Western sanctions, further complicated potential plans by the recently elected moderate government in Tehran to reengage with European powers for much-needed economic relief.

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame Memorial in Baku on August 19, 2024. (Photo by Mikhail TERESHCHENKO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MIKHAIL TERESHCHENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Cracks in Russia's influence in South Caucasus offer opening to Middle East

Russia’s war on Ukraine has had one unintended consequence: the intensification of geopolitical links between the Middle East and the South Caucasus.

Emil Avdaliani

By Emil Avdaliani

Latest News

Analysis

Even as Erdogan befriends Putin, Turkey and Ukraine ink major free trade deal

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

How Turkish, Russian interests align in West Africa

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (R) welcomes Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) upon his arrival at Bamako airport on March 2, 2018.

Cagatay Cebe

By Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

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Analysis

How Iran's missile capabilities can help Russia's war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on November 23, 2015. Putin arrived in Tehran for talks with Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, with the Syrian conflict expected to be high on the agenda. The one-day visit will also see Putin take part in a summit of gas exporting countries. AFP PHOTO / SPUTNIK / ALEXEI DRUZHININ (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Why G7's economic policy toward Russia might alienate Saudi Arabia

ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

TOPSHOT - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks with US President Joe Biden at the start of the first plenary session of the NATO summit at the Ifema congress centre in Madrid, on June 29, 2022. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

Can Turkey, US finally clean the slate after Sweden’s NATO ratification?

Ankara’s ratification of Stockholm’s NATO bid creates new opportunities for US-Turkish relations.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 22, 2024, 4:25 pm

Turkey's parliament to vote on Sweden’s NATO accession this week

The progress follows intense diplomatic contacts between Ankara and Washington.

Newly elected President of the Sixth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), Morocco's Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali (L) adresses delegates at the 50th anniversary of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi on March 3, 2022 - The world has a "historic" opportunity to address plastic pollution by starting discussions in early March on a treaty to regulate this phenomenon that chokes biodiversity, according to the Executive Director of the UNEP, Inger Andersen (Photo

Davos 2024: Green ammonia expansion integral to Morocco’s new hydrogen economy, minister says

Morocco's Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali told Al-Monitor in an interview that the COP28 declaration marked the first time an emergence of more inclusive messaging has been seen in official climate text.

A man fishes as Hong-Kong-flagged container ship "Joseph Schulte" transits Bosphorus in Istanbul, on August 18, 2023. The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte left the port of Odesa on August 17 -- the first vessel to directly challenge Russia's new bid to seal Ukraine's access to the Black Sea. Marine traffic sites showed it approaching its final destination in Istanbul after moving along a western route that avoided international waters in favour of those controlled by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria. (Phot

New Black Sea mission could score Turkey points with NATO

Two different interpretations of the joint Black Sea mine mission appear to have emerged among Turkey and its other NATO allies, Romania and Bulgaria, but the allies might find a middle ground.

ODESSA, UKRAINE - APRIL 25: A view of the sign which reads "Caution: mines" on the beach on April 25, 2022 in Odessa, Ukraine. Ukrainian forces, as well as civilian Odessans, remain on guard against a potential Russian advance on this historic port city, whose capture could help give Russia control of Ukraine's southern coast. But given Russia's setbacks in this two-month-long war, including the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet's flagship Moskva, analysts regard a full-scale attack on Odessa to be unlikely. (

Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania ink deal to remove floating mines from Black Sea

The mission will be solely open to Black Sea NATO countries, the Turkish Defense Ministry stressed following signing the ceremony.

sea mind explodes

Turkey to block UK minesweeper ships intended for Ukraine

Turkey appears determined to strictly adhere to a treaty under which Ankara also closed off its straits to Russian warships.

University students protesting.

2023 in review: Israel-Hamas war puts human rights in focus as pattern of double standards persists

A growing number of countries — many of them repressive in their own right — demand to know why Israel’s abuses are permissible.

Turkey’s parliament to resume debate on Sweden’s NATO bid

Shortly after the parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee set a date for its new meeting, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that Turkey and the United States held high-level talks on defense cooperation.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan attend a welcoming ceremony ahead of their talks in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 6, 2023.

UAE rolls out red carpet for Russia’s Putin as West ups sanctions

President Putin's trip to the UAE and Saudi Arabia coincided with a new series of sanctions announced by the UK against individuals and entities accused of funding the war machine in Ukraine.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - NOVEMBER 30: (L-R) Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud and Russian President Vladimir Putin look on during the opening day of Argentina G20 Leaders' Summit 2018 at Costa Salguero on November 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Amilcar Orfali/Getty Images)

What’s on Putin’s agenda on rare trip to Saudi Arabia, UAE?

The Russian president's trip comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, where the Hamas-Israel war has threatened to spill into a wider regional conflict.

A Mil Mi-28 Night Hunter military helicopter takes part in a military aviation competition in Russia's Krasnodar region on March 28, 2019.

Why Iran's military aircraft deal with Russia is significant leap for both

Tehran receives the equipment as it continues to boost a military alliance with Moscow that has come under the international spotlight and scrutiny since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This photo taken on Sept. 21, 2016, shows Britain's Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet.

Turkey, UK sign defense deal as Ankara presses for Eurofighter jets

The move comes as Ankara ramps up its push to purchase 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets amid the absence of any progress on the Turkish bid to buy 40 new F-16 jets from the United States.