Sporadic clashes and accusations between Azerbaijan and Armenia over their lingering border war have left a question as to whether anything will stop the smouldering conflict. 

Kyrgyzstan's National Security Committee, the GKNB, said that Askar Akayev had been "delivered" to the capital Bishkek.

Lukashenko, under increasing pressure, orders all Belarus borders shut, citing "eternal threats".

Milli Mejlis MP Eldaniz Salimov was ordered locked up following a late-night brawl in a Caspian Sea resort town two hours north of Baku.

A top new Armenian government official told the National Assembly in unusually blunt terms that Armenia had to move on from its war losses. A key government priority would be unblocking trade and transit routes, he said.

The central bank and government officials had confidently predicted through the spring that a new tranche – Ukraine had requested $700 million – would be forthcoming in September.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has cried foul over the $11 billion route, calling it a sell-out to the Kremlin leader, though his rhetoric has calmed of late.

The government of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is on a non-stop effort to totally overhaul the economy and image of Central Asia’s largest country.

Periodic shootouts have increased along the border, where a kilometre here or a metre there apparently is enough reason to unleash heavy calibre weaponry

The reality is none of the three countries are formal candidates for EU membership in the near future.