PRIMAKOV CONTINUES CIS TOUR IN BELARUS AND UKRAINE.

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov arrived in Minsk yesterday at the start of two days of scheduled talks in the Belarusian and Ukrainian capitals. In Minsk, Primakov expressed sympathy with Belarusian complaints that integration–particularly economic integration–was proceeding too slowly between Belarus and Russia. Primakov’s talks in Ukraine today will concentrate on border issues, the Black Sea fleet, and the division of former Soviet property abroad. Ukrainian president Kuchma is also likely to raise the question of Boris Yeltsin’s tentatively scheduled trip to Kiev in late March to sign a treaty on friendship and cooperation between the two nations. (11)

More Damage Control in Belarus.