Author: Nikola Mikovic
Nikola Mikovic
Nikola Mikovic is a freelance journalist, researcher and analyst based in Serbia. His work focuses mostly on the foreign policies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. His area of focus is the ongoing conflict in the Donbass, as well as relations between Russia and former Soviet republics. Nikola also covers Russia's involvement in Syria and Libya. He writes for several publications such as Diplomatic Courier, Asia Times, CGTN, Tsarizm, Global Comment, among others.
The Russian Federation proved to be incapable not only of defeating Ukraine, but also of protecting its own territory. Shortly after the nine-month battle for the small and strategically insignificant city of Bakhmut effectively came to an end, Ukraine-backed anti-Kremlin forces captured portions of Russia’s Belgorod region. According to reports, on May 22 Ukraine-based Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps have occupied several settlements in western Russia. Their incursion from Ukraine into Belgorod oblast likely represents a part of Kiev’s preparations for the upcoming counteroffensive against the Russian forces in the Donbass, as well as in the…
Regardless of the outcome of the “historic” Turkish general elections, Ankara will undoubtedly preserve its leverage over Moscow. Even though the Kremlin indirectly backs Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russia is unlikely to change its current political course regarding Turkey even if the opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu comes to power. While the United States and its allies continue seizing Russia’s assets abroad, and using them to fund Ukraine, Moscow remains busy helping its frenemy Turkey overcome the economic crisis. On May 5, the Kremlin allowed its Turkish partners to delay payment of a $600 million gas bill to Russia until…
While Ukraine prepares to launch a large-scale counteroffensive against the Russian forces in the southeast of the war-torn nation, Moscow remains preoccupied with its internal divisions. For the Kremlin, the celebration of the Victory Day on May 9 seems to have priority over the war in the Eastern European country, even though the outcome of the conflict could have a serious impact on the very existence of the Russian Federation. Ukrainian shelling of the Russian regions of Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod has become a norm a long time ago. Although such actions represent Kiev’s response to Russia’s invasion of the…
While Russia remains bogged down in Ukraine, the United States seeks to increase its influence in the South Caucasus – a region that has traditionally been in Moscow’s geopolitical orbit. This week the US hosted negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, seeking to quell recent tension over Nagorno-Karabakh that threatens to once again destabilize the turbulent region. On April 23 Azerbaijan announced it had set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, the only land link between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh – a mountainous region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, although it has been under the Armenian control for three decades.…
Following the Chinese-brokered normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Middle East seems to be entering a new political era. Russia is reportedly attempting to follow Beijing’s diplomatic approach and help Syria and Turkey bury the hatchet. The two countries enjoyed a strong cooperation until the civil war broke in Syria out in 2011. Turkey soon entered the conflict by backing the rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a move that had a significant impact on relations between Damascus and Ankara. Turkey even launched several military incursions into Syrian territory, aiming to neutralize the presence of Kurdish-dominated…
For Egypt, Russia has traditionally been one of the major suppliers of wheat and weapons. Now that the Russian Federation is bogged down in Ukraine, it is Moscow that desperately needs Cairo’s military assistance. But will the North African nation risk jeopardizing its relations with the United States by supplying Russia with rockets, or will it maybe sell some of its ammunition to Kiev? According to a leaked US intelligence document, Egyptian President Abel Fattah El-Sisi planned to provide the Kremlin with 40,000 rockets. Egypt, however, denied such claims. Moreover, after talks with United States officials, Cairo has reportedly agreed…
“War is only a passing phase in business life”, said James Gordon Farrell, an English-born novelist of Irish descent. Indeed, despite the conflict in Ukraine that resulted in dozens of thousands of dead troops, as well as millions of displaced people, the Kremlin and its Ukrainian and Western partners seem to attempt to continue doing business as usual. The war in the Eastern European country had a significant impact on the global economy, although it did not lead to a complete economic “decoupling” between Russia and the West. The European Union, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, imposed…
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claims that a third world war with nuclear fires is looming on the horizon. His statement comes days after Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. According to Lukashenko, in order to avoid what is often portrayed as a “nuclear Armageddon”, it is necessary for Russia and Ukraine to immediately start negotiations without preliminary conditions. The problem, however, is that, at least at this point, neither Moscow nor Kiev seem to be interested in holding peace or ceasefire talks. Ukraine, firmly backed by the West, prepares to launch…
After Serbia, pressured by the West, implicitly recognizes its secessionist province of Kosovo, the United States and the European Union are expected to focus on suppressing any separatist tendencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unlike the Kosovo Albanians, that were strongly encouraged to separate from Serbia in 1990s, the West is reportedly pushing Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Bosniak-Muslims to live in a unitary state. Such a Western policy is unlikely to lead to a new war in the Balkans, given that the region has been firmly in the US and the EU’s sphere of influence for at least three decades. However,…
On 27 May 1999, amid NATO bombing of Serbia, then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević had been indicted for war crimes and a warrant issued for his arrest. Two years later, on 28 June 2001, a new, pro-Western Serbian government sent the former country’s leader to The Hague for trial on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Will Russian President Vladimir Putin have the same fate as the late President of Serbia and Yugoslavia? Just hours after China’s Foreign Ministry announced that President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Russia from March 20 to 22, the International…