According to Russian government sources, the political settlement plan submitted by Aleksandr Lebed to President Boris Yeltsin includes an option to defer a decision on the matter for a transitional period of five years in order to allow for political and economic normalization, the summoning... MORE

The withdrawal of Russian troops from highland areas and from Grozny resumed yesterday at full pace and without incident under Chechen escort and past Chechen checkpoints. The cease-fire is holding up well. Russia's chief commander in Chechnya, Lt. General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov met again yesterday with... MORE

A Russian plane with about 140 people on board is reported to have crashed in the Arctic, close to the Norwegian coast. There is no word of any survivors. (BBC World Service, August 29) Estonia's Electoral College Summoned.

Estonian parliament chairman Toomas Savi yesterday called a session of the country's electoral college for September 20 to elect Estonia's president. The statutory three rounds of balloting in parliament ended inconclusively, as neither President Lennart Meri not parliament vice chairman Arnold Ruutel garnered the necessary... MORE

The Tajik opposition's chief official for refugee affairs and an unofficial Tajik refugee welfare fund in Moscow issued different figures on Tajik refugees in Afghanistan. They number 35,000 to 40,000 according to the opposition, but only 12,000 according to the Moscow fund's representatives, who claimed... MORE

The Communist faction in the Russian parliament is preparing to challenge Boris Yeltsin's grant of powers to his security adviser, Aleksandr Lebed, to negotiate a settlement to the Chechnya conflict. In particular, the Communist chairman of the Duma's Security Committee, Viktor Ilyukhin, has questioned the... MORE

Public pressure for President Yeltsin to find a solution to the war in Chechnya is growing, with several influential Moscow newspapers, including Obshchaya gazeta and Izvestiya, backing plans for anti-war demonstrations. Izvestiya warned in last night's edition that Lebed's efforts to reach a settlement are... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday signed a decree listing those dual use goods and technologies that will henceforth be subject to state export controls. The decree, to come into effect three months after its publication, is aimed at bringing Russia into compliance with international norms... MORE

Despite the fact that the Prosecutor's Office in Russia's Far East has closed the case, both Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov and the State Duma are said to be interested in re-examining charges of embezzlement leveled against Far Eastern Military District commander Viktor Chechevatov. The... MORE

A Russian diplomat said yesterday that while there are no political obstacles to the re-establishment of a Russian embassy in Kabul, security concerns continue to make a Russian diplomatic presence in the city unfeasible. (Interfax, August 28) The diplomat's remarks follow several months of speculation... MORE