Lithuanian Parliament chairman Vytautas Landsbergis stated yesterday that Moscow's resistance to NATO's inevitable enlargement is "somewhat theatrical" and mainly designed to secure concessions in an eventual tradeoff. Landsbergis expressed concern over signs that Moscow might be permitted to augment its conventional forces near the Baltic... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov met yesterday in Oslo with Leni Fischer, chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, to discuss the situation in Chechnya, Russia's proposed confederation with Belarus, and the use of the death penalty in Russia. (Itar-Tass, February 24)... MORE

? Russian Space Agency general director Yury Koptev told reporters in Moscow yesterday that the launch of the first element of the International Space Station Alpha would be delayed from November 1997 to June 1998 because Russia has not been able to build a key... MORE

According to the Russian magazine Ogonek, American intelligence has a highly-placed spy in Moscow, who is giving the U.S. security services information on Americans cooperating with Russian intelligence. The magazine claims that there are no less than five agents of the FBI and the National... MORE

Sources at NATO headquarters in Brussels indicated yesterday that, although major differences remain unresolved, Russia and the Western alliance have moved closer to a deal that could ease the way toward NATO's eastward expansion. The NATO sources, speaking one day after talks between Russian foreign... MORE

President Yeltsin met yesterday with Marat Baglai, newly-elected chairman of Russia's Constitutional Court. Yeltsin told Baglai that "in no circumstances" should there be any talk about amending Russia's 1993 constitution, and called for an end to debate over the topic. "Unfortunately," Yeltsin said, "even the... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has told Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to draw up proposals for a cabinet reshuffle. "Maybe we need some changes, maybe we need some names, maybe we need some people to be changed in the government," he said. Yeltsin is clearly anxious... MORE

Georgian foreign minister Irakly Menagarishvili disagrees with the "Moscow government circles' negative reaction" toward the growing rapprochement among Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine." Russia should welcome the strengthening of direct bilateral relations among CIS countries, Menagarishvili stated at a Tbilisi briefing on President Eduard Shevardnadze recent... MORE

The Russian and Chechen authorities will work together to look for 1,233 Russian servicemen and 240 civilians who remain unaccounted for since Russia's military intervention in Chechnya. President Aslan Maskhadov and his government have promised to help the Russian authorities search for the missing. (AP,... MORE

Russian first deputy premier Viktor Ilyushin has appealed to the International Olympic Committee to choose St Petersburg, Russia's second city, as the host for the 2004 Olympic Games. Ilyushin said the gesture is necessary as a sign of international recognition of Russia as a democratic... MORE