The success of the Islamic fundamentalist movement, Taliban, in gaining control of most of Afghanistan has exposed rifts in Moscow over the proper response to the situation. Russia's chief security official, Aleksandr Lebed, persists (as he did even during his visit to NATO headquarters in... MORE

Senior officials of Azerbaijan and Iran signed yesterday in Tehran a memorandum of understanding on Iranian gas supplies to Azerbaijan's exclave, the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan. The memorandum covers a 30 year period and includes other Iranian deliveries to Nakhichevan as well. A special gas... MORE

President Aleksandr Lukashenko is moving rapidly to reverse the economic and political reforms initiated in Belarus before he came to power. On October 4, Lukashenko signed a decree requiring that imports from countries outside the CIS customs union be subject to a special, case-by-case governmental... MORE

Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov's just-completed visit to the Kaliningrad region -- described as his first "working visit" to military units since his appointment in July -- underscored Moscow's new emphasis on strengthening Russia's presence in that Baltic exclave. The area is seen in Moscow... MORE

Keen to play the statesman on his first visit to the West, Russian security supremo Aleksandr Lebed yesterday dispensed with harsh denunciations of the Western alliance but left observers divided over whether he had signaled Moscow's acceptance of NATO enlargement as inevitable. In remarks to... MORE

The Lithuanian military yesterday demonstrated the first batch of light anti-tank weapons it is acquiring from Sweden's Bofors. President Algirdas Brazauskas attended the exercise and fired a missile that destroyed a mock invading tank. Lithuania will complete a large purchase of these weapons next year... MORE

The escort ship Hetman Sahaydachny and landing ship Kostyantyn Olshansky, centerpieces of Ukraine's nascent navy, have completed a two-week mission in the Atlantic. The ships visited the U.S. naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, conducted joint exercises with U.S. warships there , and afterward exercised at... MORE

President Yeltsin has fired Shamil Tarpishchev -- his one-time friend and tennis coach -- from his post as Russia's sports minister. No explanation was given for the dismissal, which appears to be part of the ongoing campaign by Yeltsin's chief aide, Anatoly Chubais, to clear... MORE

Allegations that Lebed is tainted by association with those involved in corrupt dealings were also made yesterday by Anatoly Kulikov, Russia's interior minister, Kulikov, who fiercely opposes the Khasavyurt accords signed by Lebed with the Chechen opposition, told a Moscow press conference that he will... MORE

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday that the recent summit of Middle Eastern leaders in Washington had produced "no movement" in the effort to restart the peace process. The spokesman described Russia's exclusion from the Washington talks as a key reason for that failure.... MORE