An overdue and fruitless negotiating session was held June 22 at the Russian military base in Khankala, site of the command of Russian forces in Chechnya. The sides were unable to make progress toward defining the notions of "special operations," "demilitarization," and other points contained... MORE

Since the appearance of a jubilant Anatoly Chubais on Russian TV screens last week, speculation has been high that the former economic policy overlord is about to return to government. Chubais, whose role as privatization czar made him deeply unpopular with many members of the... MORE

Boris Yeltsin continued to campaign on nationalist themes over the weekend, using a ceremony in Belarus marking the 55th anniversary of Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union to sound another warning against NATO enlargement and then appearing before Russian Baltic Fleet sailors in the port... MORE

Presidential candidate Gennady Zyuganov said today that if he is elected July 3, he will set up a coalition government of national trust. One-third of the posts would go to the Communist-nationalist bloc Zyuganov leads, one-third to the present government, and a further third to... MORE

Yeltsin's appointment of Aleksandr Lebed as his national security supremo was fully supported by 43.1 percent of respondents in a poll last week, while a further 20.8 percent expressed general approval. Disapproving were 16.5 percent, while the remainder were indifferent or undecided. (RTR, June 23)... MORE

Russia's financial markets reacted enthusiastically to the results of the first round of the presidential election. Corporate stocks, whose prices are driven by Western investors, responded sharply. On June 17, the day after the election, the Moscow Times index of 50 leading shares rose 11.6... MORE

...while Tbilisi and Moscow negotiate possible materiel-for-bases deal Poll Puts Yeltsin Well Ahead.

A poll released Sunday put incumbent President Boris Yeltsin well ahead in the Russian presidential race, with 53 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him in the July 3 runoff and only 34 percent backing his Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov. The poll, commissioned... MORE

Azerbaijan inaugurated June 20 the privatization of retail stores and small-scale service establishments. The first six shops were sold that day to private bidders at an auction in Baku as part of the program's initial stage, in which 500 retail outlets are to be privatized.... MORE

Addressing a weekend meeting of his supporters, President Yeltsin's new national security supremo Aleksandr Lebed said he stood "shoulder to shoulder" with the president and called on those who voted for him in the first round to transfer their votes to Yeltsin in the second.... MORE