Russia and the United States look set to launch a "new era" in bilateral relations this week, as the Bush administration puts an official and at least temporary end to a policy of cold-shouldering Moscow by playing host to Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov for... MORE

The Wolfowitz team's visit to Moscow, and developments in Russia since that time, suggest the likely contours of Russia's diplomatic response to Washington's new efforts to sell its missile defense plan. That response is likely to include praise for U.S. willingness to consult on these... MORE

Russia's power ministers have admitted that the goals of the military operation in Chechnya have not yet been achieved. Four top officials--Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky--discussed the situation in Chechnya during... MORE

Meanwhile, the situation in Djohar [Grozny] remained tense this week. Two explosions in the city's Leninsk district on May 12 were apparently targeted at two Russian armored personnel carriers passing by at the moment of the blasts. Because the vehicles were moving at high speed,... MORE

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch has charged that Russian forces were responsible for the murder of fifty Chechens whose bodies were discovered at Dachny, an abandoned village not far from the Russian military base at Khankala, just outside Djohar [Grozny], earlier this year.... MORE

On May 14 in Kyiv, Presidents Leonid Kuchma and Saparmurat Niazov signed an agreement on the supply of Turkmen natural gas, which could end Ukraine's dependence on Russian gas. Under the agreement, Turkmenistan is to deliver a staggering total of 250 billion cubic meters of... MORE

Russia is hosting a four-day visit this week by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that included a ninety-minute meeting on Monday between the controversial Latin American leader and President Vladimir Putin. Aside from boosting bilateral relations between Russia and Venezuela, the Chavez visit appears also to... MORE

In addition to the declaration, the Russian and Venezuelan delegations signed four other agreements, including one on military-technical cooperation and another on joint efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking. Reports said that additional agreements which the two sides had expected to sign had in fact... MORE

The so-called Mabetex case, involving allegations that the Kremlin property department handed out lucrative refurbishment contracts in exchange for kickbacks, was closed down late last year by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and is still under investigation by Swiss prosecutors. The press coverage of the... MORE

Vedomosti was unable to contact the man who had signed off on the proposed list of equipment for the Vatutinki hotel, Aleksandr Balashov, but spoke to his deputy, Viktor Gumin. Asked whether the hotel needed to pay the equivalent of US$2.7 million per Jacuzzi, Gumin... MORE