Yeltsin elaborated somewhat on earlier remarks dealing with military reform. He strongly suggested that Russia's armed forces would be cut further -- o make them "more compact and more battle-worthy" -- and that the Defense Ministry's and the General Staff's respective roles would be clarified.... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has signed the federal law "on defense," his press service reported June 2. The law, which lays out the organization and state management of Russia's armed forces, as well as related civil obligations, was passed by the Duma April 24 and by... MORE

Addressing a festival in Tallinn dedicated to the history of that formerly Hanseatic German and Danish port, Estonian president Lennart Meri praised the periods of German and Danish rule as having enabled Estonia later on to resist russification and regain its independence. Meri stressed that... MORE

The U.S. has agreed with Ukraine's proposal to form a high-level intergovernmental commission to coordinate bilateral relations in the areas of foreign policy, security, trade, and investment. U.S. vice president Albert Gore and Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma agreed in a telephone conversation to co-chair the... MORE

On May 31, the eve of the effective date of the ceasefire, the Russian army ordered the Chechen detachment in Shali to disarm by 8:00 AM on June 1, or else face a "special operation" (meaning bombardment followed by storming) against the town. In an... MORE

In proclaiming that Moscow will pursue a more assertive foreign policy, consonant with Russia's role as a "leading power without whose participation no key problem can be solved," the foreign policy section of Yeltsin's newly announced platform seemed to offer little that was new or... MORE

With only two weeks to go before the presidential election, polls published over the weekend showed incumbent president Boris Yeltsin continuing to gather support over his main rival, Gennady Zyuganov. A Moscow Times-CNN poll published on Saturday gave Yeltsin his largest lead to date, with... MORE

While doubt may be cast on the reliability of Russian polls, the impression that Yeltsin really has surged in popularity is supported by a study of changing attitudes among the regional elite. Only a few of Russia's regional leaders have been democratically elected, and most... MORE

On Saturday, the Central Bank of Russia signed the IMF's Article 8 on currency convertibility, making the ruble fully convertible for foreign trade transactions. This means that Russia has undertaken not to impose restrictions on payments and transfers for foreign trade transactions, and not to... MORE

President Yeltsin yesterday tried to embarrass his chief rival in the presidential campaign, Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov. Yeltsin sent a telegram of sympathy to residents of the city of Novocherkassk in southern Russia, scene of a June 1962 massacre in which Soviet troops opened... MORE