Early Tuesday morning, a suspected suicide car bomber crashed into the gates of the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, killing himself and injuring three others. Although no Chinese nationals were hurt, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said China was incredibly distressed about the attack. It is presumed that the attack ensued by extremists from the Uighur ethnicity in reaction against the Chinese rule in Xinjiang. China has been waging war in this region since 2014 in the sake of protecting its people against terrorist acts from Uighur extremists. In the escalation of this conflict, the Uighur minority believes that China has reverted to targeting conservative Islam.

On Wednesday, August 24, Polish President Andrzej Duda arrived in Kiev to participate in anniversary celebration of Ukrainian independence. The ceremony celebrations of the 25th anniversary of independence were opened by a parade of about 4,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard and the police. The parade had special column for veterans of current fighting with pro-Russian separatists. More than 200 military vehicles, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers, howitzers and rocket launchers participated in the ceremony. The parade went down the main street of Kiev, Khreshchatyk.

On Tuesday, August 23, Kremlin press service informed that Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande. In this phone call, Putin agreed to meeting at the sidelines the G20 summit, to discuss the issue of Ukraine. This represents a change in stance for Putin, who suggested earlier that he considered such meetings fulite.

More than two and a half years since the annexation of Crimea and its residents are beginning to regret their referendum decision to side with Russia. During the months leading up to the referendum, the people of Crimea found themselves banned together by a renewed sense of nationalism that fueled their fight and fervor; their hopeful future was paved with high expectations of prosperity comparable to the prosperity in Russia. The citizens of Crimea anticipated that their vote to side with Russia would mean they were a part of Russia in every way: culturally, socially, and economically. However, two and a half years later, the promises made by Moscow have remained unfulfilled.

On Monday August 22, the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, arrived Poland on a two-day visit. The focus of the visit was on economy cooperation between two countries and discussion of East Europeanforeign policy. President Andrzej Duda described the visit as “extremely important and significant” and reminded the audience that is the first such visit since 2002. However, in 2007 Polish president visited Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev called Poland a “natural partner”, emphasized the importance of bilateral relations and declared that Kazakhstan will abolish visa requirement for Polish citizens as part of the abolition of visas for OECD countries. Moreover, the President of Kazakhstan said that “Poland will be the first UE countries reached by Kazakh exports”.

Last weeks’ escalation of violence in the Donbass region and the increasing tension along the Crimean border have rocked priorities of international chancelleries. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had a phone call on August 20th, pointing out security issues and the importance of political-diplomatic efforts to de-occupy Crimea. Donbass turmoil, with Russian-backed militants, continue shelling, including with banned heavy weapons, and large-scale military drills near the Russian-Ukrainian border, was also on the table.