Russian finance minister Aleksandr Livshits has signed a time-table for repaying wage arrears in the coal industry. First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Potanin will be dispatched next week to the major striking coal basin, the Kuzbass, to try to resolve the situation there. The upper... MORE

Russian Security Council secretary Ivan Rybkin met yesterday with Momadi Saidaev, chairman of the Central Election Commission preparing for the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in the Chechen republic on January 27. Rybkin said that he and Saidaev had agreed on the participation... MORE

The White House confirmed yesterday that Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin will meet in March. No exact date has been set. Although it is Washington's turn to host the talks, U.S. officials indicated that, in view of Yeltsin's health, the meeting could take place... MORE

Russia's Defense Ministry hosted press service representatives from the various "power ministries" on December 5 at a meeting -- the first of its kind -- devoted to improving the coordination of information disseminated to the public. The provision of often conflicting information during Russia's war... MORE

The commander-in-chief of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov, said yesterday that the fleet could not be reduced below its current level. Kuroyedov complained that over the past 4 years the fleet had shrunk from 335 to 140 ships, with commensurate cuts in personnel.... MORE

The Soldiers' Mothers Committee of Russia yesterday was named as the winner of an alternative Nobel Prize in Stockholm. The award, worth $250,000, will be presented on December 9. The committee was honored for defending soldiers' rights in the Russian military and for its efforts... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday criticized authorities in Oslo for repeatedly refusing to provide Moscow with information on eight Russians who have sought asylum in Norway. A ministry spokesman described the situation as "abnormal" and suggested that Oslo's silence was inconsistent with "good-neighborly relations" between the... MORE

When Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin presents the draft 1997 federal budget to the Duma today, he will also outline a four-year development program. The details already released of that plan suggest that it is overly optimistic: when approved by the government on November 21... MORE

New arrangements are being established for consultation and cooperation between the federal government in Moscow and the leaders of Russia's regions. On December 3, First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Bolshakov met with representatives of the seven interregional associations that group together almost all of Russia's... MORE

Russia's Duma on December 4 unanimously approved an appeal to the president and government urging an acceleration of military reform efforts. The appeal was based on the results of a series of parliamentary hearings on defense reform held in July of this year, and was... MORE