U.S., EUROPE LOOK TO SWEETEN NATO-RUSSIA DEAL.

U.S. president Bill Clinton huddled with foreign and security advisers yesterday in what was described as the first in a series of meetings to be devoted to NATO enlargement and U.S. policy toward Russia. The meeting comes amid reports that the U.S. and Europe are prepared to offer a new package of incentives to Moscow — involving arms control, economic assistance, and a special consultative status — in hopes of easing its opposition to enlargement. (The Washington Post, January 15; Reuter, January 16)

OSCE Will Send Election Observers to Chechnya.