Russian Defense Ministry representatives told reporters late yesterday afternoon that more than 80 percent of all servicemen had cast ballots in Russia's presidential election. Among generals and officers serving in the Defense Ministry administration in Moscow, the turnout was reported to be 92 percent. (Interfax,... MORE

Kyrgyz foreign minister Roza Otunbaeva yesterday called on the U.S. and other Western countries to "pay much closer attention" to the Tajikistan conflict and contribute to its political settlement, rather than leaving it "only to Russia and the CIS." Absent a U.S. role "one can... MORE

The Crimean parliament says it is unable to reach agreement on bringing its draft constitution into line with the requirements of the central Ukrainian authorities. (Interfax-Ukraine, June 13) The Crimean lawmakers put forward a new draft constitution last November, and it was approved in principle... MORE

Belarus parliament chairman Semyon Sharetsky told officials at CIS headquarters in Minsk that "it would be wrong to accelerate integration processes for political goals." Sharetsky pointed to the European Union as "an example of wise and consistent integration among countries which don't lose their sovereignty."... MORE

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported yesterday that Russia had emerged in 1995 as a major global supplier of conventional weapons. Moscow, the report said, accounted for 17 percent of all such arms deliveries last year compared to just four percent in 1994.... MORE

The SIPRI report also suggested that the Russian government "may be concealing the true extent of the economic costs" of its war in Chechnya "in order to secure continued international financing for its reforms." Among other things, SIPRI speculated that official cost estimates for the... MORE

Russian deputy foreign minister Viktor Posuvalyuk, in the midst of a Middle Eastern tour that already has brought him to Iran, Iraq, and Jordan, met yesterday in Damascus with Syrian foreign minister Farouk Sharaa. Talks were said to focus on bilateral ties, the Middle East... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin yesterday signed two new treaties on the part of the Russian Federation with Russian regions. One was with Tver oblast, the other with the city and oblast of St. Petersburg. (Interfax, June 13) This unorthodox system of bilateral treaties between the federal... MORE

Russia's state-run Ostankino Television screened a 40-minute interview Thursday evening with President Boris Yeltsin, who is running for reelection in Sunday's presidential elections. The interview, which was conducted by the well-known film director Eldar Ryazanov, is to be broadcast again on Friday. It created a... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin turned to themes of Russian naval glory during a campaign speech at a St. Petersburg ship-building yard yesterday, declaring that "Russia was, is, and will be a great naval power." Yeltsin also said that Russian national interests, as well as its... MORE