Talks between Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and U.S. leaders wound up in Washington on February 7 with the signing of a series of economic cooperation agreements and more statements from both sides on bilateral relations, NATO enlargement, and arms control. The economic agreements, nineteen... MORE

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma has appointed Vasili Kiselev, who last week was ousted by fellow parliamentarians after only four months as leader of the Crimean parliament, to be his envoy in the autonomous republic. The move appears to be a substitute, or perhaps a preliminary,... MORE

A Russian government official said on February 7 that Moscow would ignore U.S. protests over the proposed sale by Russia of two nuclear reactors to India. Washington charges that the sale would violate a 1992 accord by which the world's declared nuclear states agreed not... MORE

Eduard Sagalayev, Chairman of Russia's state-owned All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), has tendered his resignation. It is expected to be accepted by President Boris Yeltsin later today. Sagalayev appears to have lost his struggle to prevent government plans to privatize the TV... MORE

The Clinton Administration is asking Congress for an increase of nearly 50 percent -- from $625 million this year to $900 million in 1998 -- in U.S. economic aid to the countries of the former Soviet Union. Russia would be the biggest winner, with aid... MORE

On February 4 an armed group commanded by Bakhrom Sodirov seized a traveling party of UN military observers -- including two Swiss, an Austrian, a Ukrainian, and their Tajik interpreter -- near Obigarm, some 90 kilometers east of Dushanbe. In separate incidents yesterday, Sodirov's detachment... MORE

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund wrapped up negotiations with the Azerbaijani government during a meeting with President Haidar Aliev in Baku on February 4. The delegation noted Baku's success in reducing inflation to 6.8 percent in 1996 and in achieving macroeconomic stabilization through... MORE

Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze yesterday completed a three-day official visit to France, during which President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Herve de Charette endorsed Georgia's quest for membership in the Council of Europe and for closer relations with the European Union. Chirac spoke of France's... MORE

The directors of the Ukrainian and Russian state-owned arms export companies are to meet sometime this month. Ondrey Kukin, head of Ukraine’s Ukrspetseksport, recently offered an olive branch in advance of the meeting, saying that he thought a partnership between the two companies would be... MORE

Russia's Black Sea Fleet command has intimated that a planned multinational naval exercise off Crimea is offensive to Russia and damaging to its prestige. Scheduled for July within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, the exercise is reportedly based upon a scenario envisioning... MORE