The Armenian government informed its public yesterday that Russia had deflected OSCE criticism of the government's conduct of the recent presidential election. At a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, called to discuss that election, the Russian delegation urged that the Armenian Central... MORE

On a visit to Kiev, U.S. senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn assured Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma yesterday that the Nunn-Lugar program of financial assistance to Ukraine will continue for at least two to three years. The program, worth $390 million, is designed to offset... MORE

The Estonian government yesterday endorsed the European Convention on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities and is forwarding it to parliament for ratification, Prime Minister Tiit Vahi announced. Vahi recommended that parliament attach a declaration defining the notion of ethnic minority. He pointed out that Estonia's... MORE

Prime ministers of CIS member countries failed to reach any significant common decision at their regular autumn meeting, held last week in Moscow. The one potential exception was an agreement to establish the "Granit" corporation, meant to produce equipment for a joint CIS air defense... MORE

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Tarasov yesterday lambasted recent U.S. congressional resolutions on promoting stability in the Baltic region, supporting Ukraine's independence, and calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova. Tarasov described the three resolutions as "prejudiced and unfriendly toward Russia," and condemned... MORE

Ousted Russian security chief Aleksandr Lebed is expected to run for the governorship of Tula oblast when the post comes up for election in December. (Izvestiya, October 22) This would give Lebed, like the newly elected governor of Kursk oblast, Aleksandr Rutskoi, a seat in... MORE

Chechnya's new coalition government met yesterday for the second time and discussed the oil industry. The Chechens plan in mid-November to resume refining oil and to begin producing gasoline. By the end of November they hope to be supplying the republic with its own petroleum... MORE

"Today, I want to state America's goal: By 1999 -- NATO's 50th anniversary and ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall -- the first group of countries we invite to join should be full-fledged members of NATO," U.S. president Bill Clinton told an... MORE

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has apparently concluded that they already are. It is also concerned that there are serious problems with the command and control of Russian nuclear weapons and that an unauthorized launch of a strategic nuclear missile is not impossible. This alarming... MORE

The 25 parties and groups comprising the coalition "in defense of the constitution against dictatorship" held a congress in Minsk on October 18 and a 20,000-strong rally the following day. Speakers, including parliament vice-chairman Hennadz Karpenka, former National Bank president Stanislau Bahdankevich, Free Trade Unions... MORE