IS MOSCOW CIRCUMVENTING THE OSCE ON KARABAKH?

In an official message yesterday on the third anniversary of the Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire, Russian president Boris Yeltsin offered personally to mediate and host top-level negotiations among the parties to the conflict. Only four days earlier, the Russian, U.S., and French co-chairmen of the OSCE’s Minsk Conference had agreed in a special statement to "work in unison" and "cooperate closely" in promoting negotiations. The OSCE has mandated the 10-country Minsk Conference, not Russia, to mediate. (Interfax, Turan, May 19)

IMF Resumes Loan Payments.