The commander of Russia's border troops, General Andrei Nikolaev, urged Azerbaijan in a public statement yesterday to "take a more active part in integration processes within the CIS" in general and specifically to sign an agreement on joint defense of "CIS external borders." The commander... MORE

Georgia's ruling Civic Union party, chaired by president Eduard Shevardnadze, issued a statement yesterday denouncing the Russian military's intention to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Transcaucasus Military District in Tbilisi as an "insult to the people of Georgia." The statement recalled that Soviet Russia... MORE

Anti-government riots broke out in the town of Ura-Tube in the Leninabad region May 14 and continued yesterday after police killed at least three protesters. Demanding the recall of "southern" officials and police officers appointed from Dushanbe, the protesters forced key officials to flee and... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin's professed wish to visit Chechnya before the June 16 presidential election date was shot down for security reasons at yesterday's weekly session of the government commission for Chechnya settlement, chaired by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The three "power" ministers and the Russian... MORE

The latest government statistics say that the Russian economy grew last month for the first time since Russia launched its market reforms. Officially recorded gross domestic product increased in April by 2 percent over the previous month. Output is now only a little below what... MORE

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested yesterday that Moscow would work actively to "upgrade" the terms of the CFE Treaty during a review conference scheduled to begin today in Vienna. He indicated that Russia would aim specifically to apply force limits on a national rather... MORE

President Leonid Kuchma May 13 ordered the Ukrainian government to take severe measures to collect taxes, users' fees, and payments for goods and services -- particularly from energy consumers -- in order to replenish the state budget. The government presidium recommended that Kuchma dismiss or... MORE

A consortium of German banks and Ukraine's Export-Import Bank have signed an agreement on a DM 300 million loan to Ukraine for importing German industrial equipment. The amount, repayable in five years, is for the most part backed by German government guarantees. (Interfax-Ukraine, May 14)... MORE

Russia's Far Eastern border forces fired warning shots May 13 at more than ten Japanese fishing boats as they approached Russian territorial waters along the disputed Kuril Islands. The press center of the border forces complained of repeated incursions by Japanese boats into Russian waters... MORE

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday that Moscow had earlier suspended the operations of the Jewish Agency for its violations of Russian law. (See Monitor, May 2 & 3) Russian reports offered no specifics on the alleged violations. The spokesman also suggested that the... MORE