Both pictures show informal housing in Yerevan, Armenia, at two locations in the city centre. In November 2023 I travelled to Yerevan to conduct in-depth interviews with migrants and domestic experts as part of my new project examining the migration wave from Russia in selected post-Soviet countries. New Russian migrants – often referred to as relokanty, from the English word “relocation” – represent a very heterogenous group, encompassing people who have migrated for political (mostly just after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine), military (avoiding the draft, just after the partial mobilization in October 2022) and business reasons (saving their businesses, avoiding sanctions). Despite this variety, the new Russian migrants are enriching the social, cultural, and economic life in Armenia, while at the same time positively challenging the country’s informal sector.

If trade diplomats thought they knew one thing, it was how to cut industrial tariffs. Yet the Doha deadlock rests squarely on the inability to compromise on industrial tariff cuts. This column says that the arguments made for higher levels of ambition don't stand up to much scrutiny and should not be allowed to provide a basis for a continuing impasse.