RUSSIA PUTS SQUEEZE ON UKRAINIAN TANK DEAL.

Ukraine is looking for alternate parts suppliers for the T-80UD tanks it is exporting to Pakistan after Russia angrily refused to supply the components normally built in its plants. Chief among these is the tank’s main armament — the 2A46M-1, 125mm smooth-bore gun, which can fire both artillery rounds and missiles. The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Volodymyr Horbulin, announced the move yesterday. He said that Ukraine would not reply to Russia’s action by cutting off the supply of Ukrainian equipment used by the Russian space program, as Kiev had earlier threatened. (Interfax, February 26) Once called the T-84, the Ukrainian-built T-80UD is an improved diesel-powered version of the Russian T-80, which has a gas-turbine engine. The 125mm gun arms both tanks, as well as the Russian T-90 tank.

Inter-Tajik Talks Face New Complications.