The energy crisis that left homes and factories in Russia's Far East without electricity seems to have been resolved, at least temporarily. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced that the government would grant emergency fuel to Maritime Krai after local leaders appealed for help to Security... MORE

German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel welcomed the Russian Federation Council's "positive signal" in blocking on July 17 the Duma's bill, which would have declared art works seized by the Red Army from other countries -- mainly Germany -- as Russian state property. In a special... MORE

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov has rejected accusations that he is conducting the fight against crime in Moscow along ethnic lines and fostering prejudice against people from the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Luzhkov said the innocent have nothing to fear from his campaign against crime. (Interfax,... MORE

The parliament of Azerbaijan passed on July 16 legislation on agrarian reform. In a substantial redistribution of land ownership, 22 percent of the country's agricultural land will be turned over free of charge to rural residents in private ownership. The remainder is to be divided... MORE

Russian and European rocket makers agreed yesterday to form a company that will market Russian Soyuz rockets around the world. The new venture will be called Starsem and, with headquarters near Paris, will be comprised of the European rocket consortium Arianespace, France's state-owned Aerospatiale, and... MORE

Karabakh president Robert Kocharian outlined his republic's views on conflict settlement before Andrzej Kasprzik, the new representative of the OSCE chairman, at a get-acquainted meeting in Stepanakert. Kocharian ruled out any resubordination of Karabakh to Azerbaijan and any return to the situation of an enclave... MORE

A group of four Russian soldiers, deserters from the "peacekeeping" force in Tajikistan, were caught in Uzbekistan while trying to smuggle arms and ammunition for sale in Russia, apparently to Chechen insurgents. The deserters were also carrying a large sum in hard currency, presumably from... MORE

Chubais' appointment gives a new impetus to Russian privatization

Russian sources have indicated in recent days that newly-named Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov is a staunch opponent of the START II Treaty. It has also been pointed out that Rodionov served a stint as Moscow's chief military adviser in Damascus, a fact that may... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday welcomed the Clinton administration's decision to postpone legal actions related to U.S. sanctions against Cuba, but said it would prefer that the law containing the sanctions -- the Helms-Burton law -- be repealed altogether. A ministry spokesman said Clinton's action "had... MORE