Eurasia

BAKU – Azerbaijan accused neighbor Armenia on Wednesday of stoking unrest in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, following shooting there in which Azerbaijan said 16 soldiers had been killed.

KIEV – Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told his prime minister on Wednesday to resume talks with Moscow urgently after Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom halved supplies to Kiev in a row over payments .

MOSCOW – A patron of Russian fashion, socialite and supporter of the arts, Svetlana Medvedeva is shaking off her air of mystery as she prepares to become Russia’s first lady.

MOSCOW – The first big test of whether Russia’s president-elect, Dmitry Medvedev, is really in charge will come when he tries to appoint his own allies into key Kremlin jobs occupied by Vladimir Putin’s loyalists.

ST PETERSBURG, Russia – A Russian opposition activist jailed for two months for taking part in anti-Kremlin protests has gone on a hunger strike, his liberal Yabloko party said on Wednesday.

KIEV – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko pledged on Wednesday that Ukraine would stand by its obligations to export Russian gas to Europe and remain a “reliable partner”.

Russia’s relations with countries through which it ships gas, power and coal to Europe have been characterized by frequent disputes.

Following is initial reaction from U.S. officials and presidential candidates to the election on Sunday of Dmitry Medvedev as Russia’s next president. Medvedev vows to continue the policies of Vladimir Putin.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Dmitry Medvedev has won 70.23 percent of the vote in Russia’s presidential election with 99.45 percent of the ballots counted, giving him an easy first round victory, preliminary results showed on Monday.

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) reduced supplies to Ukraine by a quarter on Monday, just hours after its chairman and Kremlin candidate Dmitry Medvedev won Russia’s presidential election.