Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov returned to Moscow empty handed after his recent visit to Azerbaijan. He had hoped to sign an agreement that would permit Russia to continue operating its strategic missile early warning radar at Gabala in northern Azerbaijan. Baku, however, balked at... MORE

The Russian State Duma has passed a law providing the legal framework for the destruction of Russia's chemical weapons stockpile. But the government still has to decide when, where, and how it will get rid of the declared 40,000 metric tons of chemical agents. (Interfax,... MORE

The South African diamond conglomerate De Beers ended its 35-year-old marketing agreement with Russia on December 31, after failing to agree on a new deal with the Russian government. (The Times, January 1) Moscow continues to insist that it wants to negotiate a new deal... MORE

Following a meeting with a delegation of Bosnian Serb leaders on December 25, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov promised to contribute building materials for the construction of a new Bosnian Serb capital. Luzhkov also described the Dayton peace agreement as "unjust" to the Serbs and suggested... MORE

The ceasefire in Tajikistan is taking hold, and, in a unilateral gesture of goodwill, the opposition yesterday released -- via Kyrgyzstan -- 39 out of 96 State Security and Internal Affairs Ministry personnel captured on December 1 in the district center Garm. The opposition forces'... MORE

The Russian daily Rossiiskaya gazeta reported yesterday that two Belarusan arms exporting companies are about to sell Russia's newest air defense missile system to an unnamed foreign country, and that Moscow is upset over the deal. The system was identified as the ZRK S-300 PM,... MORE

The Belarusan House of Representatives held its constitutive session on December 18-19, at which it elected the Soviet-era leader of the Belorussian Communist party, Anatoly Malafeyev, as its chairman; President Aleksandr Lukashenko's personal friend Uladzimir Kanaplyov as vice-chairman; Belarusan KGB officer Leonid Rachkov as chairman... MORE

A Russian daily reported on December 17 that the country's officer corps is aging at a "catastrophic" rate as increasing numbers of demoralized younger officers leave military service. The reports says that these younger men now comprise 80 percent of all the officers choosing voluntarily... MORE

The De Beers diamond conglomerate has achieved one of the goals it set when, earlier this week, it threatened to end its 35-year diamond trading agreement with Russia: it has got the attention of the Russian government. Through its Central Selling Organization cartel (CSO), De... MORE

Washington continued yesterday to assess the damage wreaked on U.S. security by Earl Edwin Pitts, the 13-year FBI veteran arrested and charged this week with selling secrets to the Soviet Union and Russia from 1987-1992. U.S. investigators believe that Pitts, who could face life in... MORE