Since 2022, trade turnover between Iran and Dagestan has more than tripled. Tehran is also increasing its religious influence in the Russian region, the Special Eurasia think tank reported.

The newly elected President of the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, Badra Gunba, called on the Georgian authorities to recognize its independence and sign "fundamental documents on the non-use of force." He also thanked the Russian Federation for recognizing Abkhazia's statehood, noting the importance of close cooperation with the Russian authorities.

Today, there is no need for a general mobilization in Russia. This was stated by the head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov.

The CSTO member countries "may consider different scenarios" if Armenia does not pay its contribution to the organization's budget by the end of 2025. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Pankin.

The President of South Ossetia Alan Gagloev feels well after hospitalization, his blood pressure has stabilized. This was reported by the head of North Ossetia Sergey Menyailo.

At the round of international security talks held in Geneva, Georgia condemned the presidential elections in the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia. In addition, Tbilisi negatively perceived the meeting in Moscow between the winner of the elections, Badra Gunba, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian authorities are waiting for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to provide “facts and evidence” regarding the desire to improve relations between the countries. This explains the postponement of the visit of the Russian Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko to Yerevan from February to June. This information was shared by the Armenian newspaper Hraparak, citing sources in Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party.

The day before, it became known that Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former financier of billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, had fled Georgia. The founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party accuses Bachiashvili of stealing bitcoins, the value of which reached $39 million. The trial in this case has been going on since 2023: at that time, the accused was banned from leaving the country, and the bail amounted to 2.5 million lari.

Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan denied reports about intensifying ties with the Russian Federation. And, according to him, Armenian government officials have never had problems with visits to Moscow.

Amid mass protests in Georgia, which have been going on for 96 days, three Baltic countries – Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – have expanded sanctions against the Georgian authorities. Several dozen officials and judges have been declared persona non grata.