TALBOTT REASSURES UKRAINE OVER LEBED CLAIM TO SEVASTOPOL.

U.S. deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott yesterday assured a U.S.-Ukrainian conference in Washington that Russian security chief Aleksandr Lebed’s statements claiming Sevastopol for Russia do not represent the official position of the Russian government, that Moscow recognizes that Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and that the U.S. supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its existing borders. (Interfax-Ukraine, October 14. See Monitor, October 14, and Perspective section below)

Yeltsin Makes Lebed Top Chechnya Negotiator.