Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) denounced Washington on November 4-5 for the October 29 arrest of a former Soviet intelligence officer. According to a November 4 SVR statement, Vladimir Galkin had retired from foreign intelligence work in 1992, and had been granted a visa by... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov yesterday dismissed a recent proposal by Security Council secretary Ivan Rybkin that called for Moscow to join NATO's political wing. Primakov said that "nobody really wants" Russia in NATO -- and neither does Moscow. Primakov also reasserted his ministry's primacy... MORE

Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko yesterday accused the Constitutional Court of "grossly violating the constitution" because of a verdict reached by the court that deprived a planned constitutional referendum of legal value. The Court "played the role assigned to it by opponents of the people's will,"... MORE

On a three-day visit to Georgia, during which he conferred with President Eduard Shevardnadze, Ukrainian prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko and officials accompanying him concluded a set of far-reaching agreements with their Georgian counterparts. The agreements come amid an accelerating political rapprochement between the two countries.... MORE

The Russian Foreign Ministry's envoy for special assignments, Gennady Ilichev, conferred in Sukhumi with Abkhaz leaders on the future course of Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations. Ilichev claimed that Tbilisi had declined to join in "tripartite" consultations over the return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia. The Russian envoy... MORE

Kazakhstan has been winning praise for its economic performance. During a recent meeting in Tokyo, World Bank representatives highlighted Kazakhstan's economic achievements and its leading role among Central Asian countries. (Itar-Tass, November 1) In addition, Standard and Poor's pointed yesterday to the relatively promising performance... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin underwent heart bypass surgery this morning. The Kremlin says there were no complications and that the 7-hour operation is now over. Before going into surgery, Yeltsin signed a decree temporarily transferring his presidential powers to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Yeltsin has... MORE

The Russian government intends to give to the relevant regional authorities its shares in a number of federal enterprises. The transfers, which will occur in the last quarter of this year, are valued at up to 500 billion rubles. They will be used to offset... MORE

The second part of a $500 million credit, granted in June to Russia by the World Bank for the restructuring of the coal industry and the improvement of living conditions for its workers, will be disbursed before the end of the year, according to a... MORE

German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel was quoted as saying on November 2 that NATO should create a 17-member consultation committee on security that would include Russia and replace the existing "16+1" relationship between Moscow and the alliance. Kinkel proposed that Russia should enjoy equal rights... MORE