The "rights of Kazakhstan's Russian-speaking population" was said to be among the topics raised by President Boris Yeltsin's chief of staff, Anatoly Chubais, during talks yesterday with the visiting prime minister of Kazakhstan, Akezhan Kazhegeldin. Chubais reportedly expressed concern over Kazakhstan's language policy, which would... MORE

Chechen prime minister Aslan Maskhadov has hinted that he may stand in the presidential election scheduled for January 27. (Interfax, November 25) Maskhadov's candidacy would be welcomed in Moscow, which sees the former resistance leader as a moderate with whom it can do business more... MORE

Officially, Russia's Interior Ministry lost 968 soldiers during the Chechen war and another 4,642 were wounded. The troops' commander, Col. Gen. Anatoly Shkirko revealed that 35 of his men were missing in action and another 13 were known to be prisoners of the Chechen separatists.... MORE

Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto denied yesterday that Tokyo opposes Russia's admission into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). But Japanese Foreign Ministry officials intimated simultaneously that Japan might back Vietnam and Peru for membership rather than Russia, reportedly because Japanese leaders believe that Russia's... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday rejected for the second time a draft law "on military reform," claiming that the latest version is virtually identical to one that he had refused to approve in July. Yeltsin had returned the original draft to the Duma because, in... MORE

The accounting commission, a parliamentary organ that audits and monitors state finances, has discovered a number of irregularities in the work of the Vneshnekonombank and the Ministry of Finance in relation to the foreign debt. The report pointed out the existence of inadequate accounting standards... MORE

The Russian Duma has scheduled an emergency debate for Friday, November 26, to discuss both President Yeltsin's decree ordering the last two brigades of federal troops out of Chechnya and the interim framework agreement signed by the Russian and Chechen prime ministers on November 23.... MORE

Although the last two major Russian military units will be withdrawn from Chechnya before the elections scheduled for the end of January, a sizable Russian armed presence will apparently remain in the republic. Ivan Rybkin, the secretary of the Security Council, told a Moscow press... MORE

Russia's military and political leaderships have in recent days continued their habit of speaking in several voices on NATO enlargement. Following talks with his Slovak counterpart in the Russian capital on November 23, Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov declared that Moscow had not "softened" its... MORE

Russia on November 21 launched its first international issue since the Bolshevik revolution. Demand was high and bids totaled $2 billion. A total of $1 billion were placed at 5 years, with a yield of less than 10 percent. (IPS, November 22) The Russian minister... MORE