Putin's fifth presidential term: Balancing against economic growth and political repression

Russia has sharply escalated its criticism of the proposed “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), with senior officials signalling that Moscow views the initiative as both illegitimate and strategically destabilising for the South Caucasus.

When Vladimir Putin addressed participants at the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on March 26, he struck a familiar tone: resilience in the face of sanctions, adaptation to geopolitical pressure and a steady movement toward economic independence.

Kazakhstan is gradually increasing its oil exports through Azerbaijan, strengthening the country’s role as a key transit energy hub in the Caspian region and reflecting broader changes in Eurasian energy logistics.

Kazakhstan has taken a step that its leadership portrays as a historic recalibration of the state. In a nationwide referendum held on March 15, voters overwhelmingly backed a new constitution that reshapes the country’s political architecture and embeds a sweeping narrative of Kazakh statehood stretching back more than a millennium.