After his mysterious recent absence, Russian president Vladimir Putin is in Astana, Kazakhstan today for a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union. The organisation is a new economic bloc comprised of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia (Ukraine unsurprisingly opted not to join) — and it’s part of Russia’s strategy to embrace its “near abroad”. The union is still in its early days, having only formally begun in January 2015, but the bloc has tentatively agreed to bring in a single currency and a Eurasian Central Bank by 2025. Belarus’ Mikhail Myasnikovich, who was prime minister until 2014, …read more
Source: Business Insider
