Armenia yesterday used its right of veto to force the OSCE's summit in Lisbon to omit a statement on settling the Karabakh conflict from the meeting's final document. The draft statement, prepared by the member countries of the OSCE's "Minsk conference" -- which serves as... MORE

Parliament chairman Petru Lucinschi defeated incumbent president Mircea Snegur yesterday in Moldova's run-off presidential election. With almost the entire vote counted as of 9:00 GMT (11:00 Chisinau time) today, Lucinschi had won 53.25 percent to Snegur's 46.75 percent, officials told The Monitor. The turnout was... MORE

Sergei Mironov, chief Kremlin doctor, says President Yeltsin will be able to increase his work load after December 5, when a month will have passed since his heart operation. Yeltsin's press secretary added that the president plans to make several trips from the Barvikha sanitarium... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin says he expects the International Monetary Fund to release the delayed October tranche of its $10.2 billion loan to Russia in mid-December. Chernomyrdin spoke after meeting IMF managing director Michel Camdessus in Paris last week. (BBC World Service, November 28)... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has issued a tersely worded decree dismissing the commander of Russia's ground forces, army Gen. Vladimir Semenov, for "actions that discredit the honor and dignity of a serviceman." No more concrete reason was given and the general has already dismissed the... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has decreed that the northern city of Severomorsk, together with 5 adjoining communities, is to be a closed administrative-territorial district. The city, 16 kilometers northeast of Murmansk, is home to the headquarters of the Northern Fleet and to a military shipyard. The... MORE

The Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) fired a railcar-based SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on November 24. An SRF official said it was the 5th strategic missile training launch this year, and the first of a rail-based missile in 6 years. With 10... MORE

Russia has reportedly agreed to credit Ukraine between $320 and $350 million to obtain 25 of the 44 ex-Soviet strategic bombers that Ukraine inherited when the USSR broke up. These include 10 of the 19 Tu-160 "Blackjack" supersonic bombers and 10 of the 25 Tu-95MS... MORE

Kazakhstan is considering doubling the size of its planned eurobond issue to $200 million, Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin said last week. (Financial Times, November 27) Russia's debut eurobond, issued earlier last month, was also doubled in response to strong demand by potential investors. Moscow Talks... MORE

Following nearly two months during which Moscow emitted mixed signals on the issue of NATO enlargement, Russia's political elite moved collectively in the lead-up to the OSCE Summit in Lisbon to re-emphasize Russia's opposition to the eastward expansion of the Western alliance. President Boris Yeltsin... MORE