Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Kostyantin Hryshchenko yesterday dismissed as "rubbish" a story carried by the Washington Times that cited CIA sources as alleging that Ukraine had reached a deal to sell missiles and provide naval maintenance services to Libya. (see Monitor, December 10). Hryshchenko added... MORE

The Crimean parliament has approved the latest draft Crimean constitution on the first reading. This is the version hammered out last month by a task force of Ukrainian and Crimean lawmakers. However, many deputies objected to the compromises worked out by the task force and... MORE

Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze and State Minister (equivalent of prime minister) Niko Lekishvili yesterday complained to visiting Russian Duma chairman Gennady Seleznev that Georgia has been practically "cut off from the Russian market." They noted that Russia has fallen to seventh place among Georgia's trade... MORE

The Ajarian Autonomous Republic's Supreme Soviet issued on December 9 a statement protesting against Tbilisi's refusal to authorize the creation of a free economic zone in the Black Sea port of Batumi, Ajaria's capital. The statement accused Tbilisi of "ignoring the autonomous republic's interests" and... MORE

The commander of Russia's border troops, Gen. Andrei Nikolaev, conferred in Yerevan with President Levon Ter-Petrosian and Internal Affairs and National Security Minister Serge Sarksian on "additional measures to improve the supply and staffing" of Russian border troops deployed in Armenia. Nikolaev praised the Armenian... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin was flown yesterday to the Rus hunting lodge at Zavidovo, 60 miles from Moscow, where he will spend the last stage of his convalescence. This was a favorite hunting spot of Soviet leaders, who liked to shoot wild boar or duck... MORE

Chechnya will apply to join the Commonwealth of Independent States, according to Chechen president Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. He says CIS membership would guarantee equal relations between Chechnya and the states that emerged when the Soviet Union collapsed. (Ekho Moskvy, December 9) Ingush Government Sacked.

President Ruslan Aushev of Ingushetia has dismissed the government of the north Caucasus republic. Aushev said he was dissatisfied with the government's management of the economy and that he plans to appoint a younger team. This is the second time Aushev has replaced the government... MORE

To the consternation of many in the arms control community, the Clinton Administration announced yesterday that one of the two options that will be used for disposing of surplus U.S. weapons-grade plutonium will be to use it to fuel atomic power plants. The second disposal... MORE

Russian oil companies will not be among the first to get Iraqi oil following approval of an "oil-for-food" deal between Baghdad and the UN. A Russian source said yesterday that representatives of Russian oil firms are in Baghdad, but it appears that Western companies will... MORE