President Aleksandr Lukashenko told a senior staff meeting of Belarus border troops that he has recently agreed with the Russian border troops' commander, Gen. Andrey Nikolaev, on Russian financing of Belarus border troops and on merging the two countries' border forces as of next year.... MORE

An extraordinary session of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis yesterday accepted the resignation of its chairman, Rasul Guliev. The step had been expected after the public eruption of differences between Guliev and President Haydar Aliev over the scope and pace of economic reforms (see Monitor, September 10)... MORE

The Indian parliament's Defense Committee urged the government yesterday to move more quickly on an earlier deal to purchase some 40 Russian Su-30mk fighters and MiG-AT trainers. The committee accused the government of dragging its feet on the deal, which was originally announced in the... MORE

At least two Russian servicemen were killed on September 8 when the warhead to a short-range air-defense missile exploded at a military base near Komsomolsk-na-Amure in the Russian Far East. While reports of the incident varied, Izvestiya said that the servicemen had stolen the warhead... MORE

Left my Heart in...

Leading members of the Russian Duma reacted with fury yesterday to news that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has invited Chechen chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov, along with Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed, to its meeting in Strasbourg to give European parliamentarians an... MORE

Russian justice minister Valentin Kovalev says the peace accords signed in Khasavyurt on August 31 by Lebed and Maskhadov "differ to a significant degree" from the original drafts approved by the Russian government. Kovalev objected to the fact that the norms cited in the Khasvyurt... MORE

The government of the Russian republic of Khakassia in southern Siberia has introduced a new monetary unit to pay pension arrears. Only pensioners will receive the new money, which has been created in response to a severe shortage of cash rubles. (Itar-Tass, September 11) Cash... MORE

The Ukrainian government has reacted promptly to a September 10 statement by Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov that Sevastopol is "a Russian city" and "not part of Ukrainian territory." Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vadim Dolhanov said Luzhkov's statement was at odds with the official position of... MORE

Azerbaijani foreign minister Hassan Hassanov has termed "very positive" Turkey's decision to establish a security zone in northern Iraq. Baku supports Turkey's "right to take every measure" to preserve its territorial integrity. (Anatolia news agency, September 10). Faced with the Karabakh problem, it is in... MORE