Hearings on the Chechen conflict scheduled for yesterday's session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in which Russian Security Council secretary Aleksandr Lebed and Chechen chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov had been invited to participate, have been postponed. PACE president Leni Fischer said... MORE

Several Russian Duma deputies have expressed reservations about the feasibility of Russia's draft 1997 federal budget.(Interfax, September 19) According to Finance Minister Aleksandr Livshits, the draft is based on a projection that gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by one percent in 1997 over 1996... MORE

As they crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend, Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov and U.S. secretary of defense William Perry assumed the key roles in the latest round of public negotiation over NATO enlargement. Primakov led off during a September 20 visit to Vienna... MORE

Workers in all the enterprises in Vorkuta, in Russia's Far Northern Komi Republic , will join the nationwide miners' strike called for October 1. (Interfax, September 19) The miners are demanding unpaid wages dating back to May and workers in other vital services have promised... MORE

U.S. president Bill Clinton said yesterday that Washington expects relations with Moscow to "proceed on a normal course," despite Russian president Boris Yeltsin's heart problems. Clinton told reporters both that Russia has "come a long way in developing constitutional mechanisms of authority," and that the... MORE

Iranian news sources have indicated that Tehran anticipates delivery of a third Russian-made submarine within the next six months. Iranian naval leaders described the acquisition as part of a national program to strengthen and modernize Iran's fleet. Tehran already has two Russian Kilo-class submarines, each... MORE

Turkey's Foreign Ministry yesterday informed representatives of Abkhazia in Istanbul that residents of that Georgian break-away region will no longer be allowed into Turkey with the Soviet-type passports issued by the Sukhumi authorities. Abkhazians wishing to enter Turkey must henceforth obtain valid Georgian passports from... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin's press secretary has angrily denied a report carried by the Financial Times on September 23 that Yeltsin has suffered a stroke and is unable to work more than 15 minutes a day. (Interfax, September 23) Quoting Kremlin insiders, the Financial Times said... MORE

Incumbent Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian yesterday evening claimed victory in the September 22 presidential election. As he spoke, returns from most of the country showed him leading the opposition bloc's candidate, Vazgen Manukian, by 56 to 37 percent. Manukian had carried Yerevan, but Ter-Petrosian was... MORE

Provisional results from Sunday's gubernatorial election in Amur oblast in Russia's Far East indicate a narrow victory for the Communist challenger. The victor is Anatoly Belonogov, chairman of the regional legislature, with 41.77 percent of the vote. The incumbent, Yuri Lyashko, who had strong Kremlin... MORE