Armenia's last-minute decision to join a Russian-led customs union at the expense of much closer ties with the European Union has been widely attributed in the West to strong pressure and bullying by Russia. The picture is more complex on closer inspection, however.
Armenia's prime minister says an agreement on his country's joining a Russia-led Customs Union will be ready by May. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan's deputy prime minister says a new road map outlining the steps needed for it to join the union will be prepared by spring.
The Armenian parliament has ratified a controversial natural-gas agreement with Moscow amid protests.
The U.S. co-chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group has hailed the "constructive dialogue" engaged in recently by the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents.
James Warlick, the U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, says the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan told each other in a recent meeting they respected each other's positions as the two parties tried to advance negotiations toward a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Yerevan has accused Baku of serious cease-fire violations along the border with Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, including one on December 14 in which a 26-year-old Armenian officer was reportedly killed in a shoot-out.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was in Yerevan on December 12 for a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation group.
Azerbaijan has called groundless Tajikistan's challenge of UNESCO's decision last week to add an archaic form of Azerbaijani polo to its list of "intangible heritage" in need of preservation.
Armenia's human rights ombudsman has denounced rampant corruption in the country's judicial system. According to his findings, bribe-taking in Armenian courts is endemic and even has an unofficial price list.
Baku has requested $300 billion in "damages" caused by Armenia's occupation of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly 65 years ago, on December 10, 1948.
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