February 16 – Russia
Three countries from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela – and Russia agree to freeze oil production at the January 2016 level. Oversupply of oil has led to drop in oil prices by 70 percent since 2014. For oil producing and exporting countries, this means a significant drop in revenue, forcing them to cut spending and introduce unpopular reforms.
February 27 – Russia
The partial ceasefire for Syria comes into effect. It was brokered by the United States and Russia with the Syrian government and Syria’s main rebel groups. It excludes, however, Islamic State (IS) and the Nusra Front with links to al-Qaeda. (February 29): The United Nations (UN) starts aid deliveries of food, water, medicine, and other necessities to tens of thousands of Syrians who are trapped in besieged areas.
March 14 – Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that Russia has accomplished its objectives in Syria and begins withdrawing its forces from the region. Russia conducted air strikes in Syria for about six months, helping the government of President Bashar al-Assad regain some the country’s territory from Islamic State (IS) and anti-government rebels.
April 5 – Armenia / Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s government and Armenian separatists in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region agree to a ceasefire after several days of renewed clashes. The Armenian Defense Ministry accuses Azerbaijan of launching an offensive to seize this territory. There are casualties on both sides. Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region situated within the borders of Azerbaijan and internationally recognized as part of it, but it has been governed by its ethnic Armenian majority backed by neighboring Armenia. The dispute about the region led to a bloody war between both countries, which ended in 1994, but the conflict remains unresolved.
April 26 – Ukraine
Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, the worst nuclear catastrophe in history. Thirty years ago on this day, a nuclear reactor exploded at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat located in what was then the Ukrainian Republic of the Soviet Union spewing radioactive particles into the atmosphere for 10 days. The radioactive cloud spread over much of the western Soviet Union and Europe. During the accident, 31 reactor staff and emergency workers died and thousands more deaths have been linked to the disaster. Tens of thousands of people from the area were evacuated. After 30 years, the surrounding area is still highly radioactive. The town of Pripyat is an abandoned, uninhabitable ghost town. It is believed that there is about 200 tons of the uranium still left in the damaged reactor. In 2010, works began to replace the original now-crumbling sarcophagus that was put over the collapsed reactor after the explosion. The new $2 billion-giant arch, about the size of Norte Dame, will be slowly inched over the reactor on specially constructed tracks, which will contain the radiation for the next 100 years.
September 2 – Uzbekistan
Islam Karimov Uzbekistan’s authoritarian president who had been in power since 1989, dies. Karimov ruled over the country unchallenged by wiping out political opposition, bringing the media under state control, and effectively curtailing fundamental freedoms of association, assembly, and expression[1]. Shavkat Mirziyoyev will serve as an interim president until elections on December 4. He vows, if elected, to work to improve people’s lives by building more homes, provide better electricity and gas service, and improve the transportation system.
More about Uzbekistan’s repressive rule of Islam Karimov from Human Rights Watch.
September 12 – Russia
After months of negotiations, the United States and Russia broker a ceasefire agreement in Geneva for Syria between the Syrian government forces of Bashir al-Assad and the various opposition groups such as the Free Syrian Army and the hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham. According to the deal, if the ceasefire holds for seven days, the U.S. and Russia will join forces to conduct airstrikes against Islamic State (IS), al-Nusra Front, and other jihadist groups. The truce excludes action against these terrorist groups. The ceasefire is also designed to deliver urgently-needed humanitarian aid to civilians in places under siege, such as the city of Aleppo. (September 19): The Syrian government declares the ceasefire over, which was poorly adhered to, with Syrian military incidents of bombings and blocking convoys with humanitarian aid. The ceasefire suffered a set-back when a US-British coalition mistakenly killed at least 60 Syrian government soldiers in an airstrike aimed at IS militants.
September 18 – Russia
Russia’s pro-Putin United Russia party wins 54.2 percent of votes in the country’s parliamentary elections, which raises its number of seats in the 450-seat parliament from 238 to 343. The Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) each win 13 percent of votes. A Just Russia party wins 6 percent. All these parties support Vladimir Putin. None of the opposition parties wins 5 percent threshold required to get the parliament representation.[2] For the first time since it was annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Crimea votes in a Russian election. Votes from all its constituencies go in support of United Russia party.
September 28 – Ukraine / Russia
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) consisting of prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine concludes that the Malaysian plane MH17 that fell in eastern Ukraine in 2014 killing all 298 people on board was downed by the Russian-made Buk missile. The surface-to-air missile was fired from Russian-backed, separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. The rebels used the BUK launcher that was brought from Russia and then returned to Russia after the plane was shot down.[3] Ukraine hails the findings as proof of direct Russian involvement in the incident. Russia denies that any of its weapons were taken to Ukraine.
October 3 – Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin suspends an agreement with the United States on the disposal of surplus weapons-grade plutonium. Signed in 2000 and amended in 2010, the deal called for the disposal of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium from each country, the material big enough to build 17,000 nuclear warheads.[4] The cancellation of the deal, once an example of successful post-Cold War cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, shows a corrosion of the relations between the two sides.
October 27 – Russia
The United Kingdom deploys hundreds of troops and military personnel to the NATO member-countries in eastern Europe as part of the NATO’s plan to strengthen its presence in the region. These troops will join other already stationed in the Baltics, but also Poland and Romania.[5] From 2017, NATO will have four multinational battalions in the eastern Europe led by the U.S., UK, Canada, and Germany with 1,000 troops each. It also plans to strengthen its presence in the Black Sea region. The largest buildup of NATO troops since the Cold War is in response to Russia’s significant military buildup near its western border, tripling its defense spending since the year 2000, and its aggression against Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.[6]
See map of Russia’s anti-NATO troops reinforcement.
See map of NATO troops deployment in eastern Europe.
October 28 – Russia
For the first time since the beginning of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in 2006, Russia is not elected as the Council’s member and is replaced by Croatia. The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations, which consists of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, despite criticism, is elected and will serve another 3-year term until 2019. In June 2016, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a joint statement condemning Saudi Arabia for human rights violations in its military campaign in Yemen and in its own country, with reports of jailing of the opposition, torture, discrimination, and conducting 157 executions just in 2015. As a member of the UNHCR, Saudi Arabia uses its power to block any investigations into these allegations. The two organizations called for Saudi Arabia to be suspended from UNHRC.[7]
More about the membership in UNHRC
December 19 – Russia
An off-duty Turkish police officer fatally shoots Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, as revenge for Russia’s involvement in bombing the city of Aleppo in Syria. The assassination takes place during an opening of an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey. Both Russia and Turkey agree that this is a provocation and will not influence their cooperation that they see important for the Middle Eastern region.
Video of the assassination of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey
December 29 – Russia
Russia and Turkey mediate a new ceasefire agreement between the Syrian Government and the opposition groups. The two countries, who support different sides in the Syrian conflict, act as guarantors, while Iran acts as a signatory to this trilateral agreement. The ceasefire comes into effect on December 30. The ceasefire excludes groups designated by the UN as terrorist, such as Islamic State (IS), Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (previously known as Nusra Front), and other jihadist groups. According to the deal, both sides also agree to enter peace talks scheduled for January 15 in Kazakhstan.[8] The Assad regime will bring Russia as its ally, while Turkey will side with moderate anti-Assad rebel groups. The United States, which has led an anti-Assad international coalition to fight IS in Syria, has been sidelined by Russia and Turkey and excluded from these negotiations. The US President-elect Donald Trump says that after taking the oath of office, he will cooperate with Russia in Syria in defeating Islamic State (IS).
Map: who controls what in Syria.
December 29 – Russia
The United States expels 35 Russian diplomats, closes two compounds used by Russia for intelligence gathering, and broadens sanctions on Russian entities and individuals as punishment for interfering in the US November presidential elections, an effort to undermine the US election processes and institutions and aggressive harassment of U.S. officials in Russia. In a statement, President Barack Obama says that “all Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions”.[9] The Russian hacking included spearphishing, targeting government organizations, think-tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations, steeling information from these organizations, and then public release of some of this stolen information. The US intelligence agencies, including the FBI and CIA, conclude that the hacks were aimed at causing damage to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and help to install Donald Trump as president.[10] Some lawmakers call for Congress to establish a committee to examine the cyber attack and Russian’s efforts to interfere in the U.S. election. The Russian government, as well as President-elect Donald Trump dismiss the hacking claims.