The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee said yesterday that he doubted the Duma would ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention before it goes into effect on April 29. Nikolai Stolyarov indicated he was in favor of the treaty but thought that --... MORE

The news remained grim yesterday for those battling an oil slick from a wrecked Russian tanker, as the areas of Japanese coastline fouled by the spill continued to expand and it was discovered that more oil was leaking from the ruptured vessel. Japanese officials said... MORE

U.S. president Bill Clinton huddled with foreign and security advisers yesterday in what was described as the first in a series of meetings to be devoted to NATO enlargement and U.S. policy toward Russia. The meeting comes amid reports that the U.S. and Europe are... MORE

Armenian prime minister Armen Sarkisian's working visit to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the U.S. has developed into a long series of meetings with senior U.S. government officials who are said to be urging observance of democracy in Armenia. Vice-President Al... MORE

Petru Lucinschi yesterday took office as president of Moldova following his victory in the December 1 election runoff against incumbent Mircea Snegur. In his inaugural address to a special session of parliament and in a follow-up news conference Lucinschi said he would orient Moldova toward... MORE

More than a year after the crash of 3 Russian Su-27 jet fighters at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, the general that was flying in a lead transport has been blamed for the accident. The planes belonged to the crack Russian Knights precision flying team and... MORE

Col. Gen. Mikhail Klishin, who has headed the General Staff's Main Organizational-Mobilization Directorate for the past three months, complained yesterday that some 37,000 young men dodged the latest draft call -- the highest number in history. He compared this with 44,000 for the whole year... MORE

Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Davydov has given a preliminary estimate of Russia's foreign trade for 1996. (Nezavisimaya gazeta, January 14) It shows a huge surplus: $40 billion. Merchandise exports totaled $86.5 billion and imports $46.6 billion. The figures include trade with other former Soviet states... MORE

President Yeltsin's former human rights commissioner, Sergei Kovalev, flew to Grozny yesterday. (Itar-Tass, January 15) Kovalev, who resigned as presidential human rights watchdog last year in protest against human rights abuses in Chechnya, is leading an unofficial group of like-minded Russian parliamentarians who will monitor... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry reacted strongly on January 14 to statements by Hungarian prime minister Gyula Horn, published in the German magazine "Der Spiegel," that were sharply critical of Russia's attitude toward NATO enlargement. Ministry spokesman Gennadi Tarasov said that Moscow found particularly objectionable Horn's statement... MORE