China's ambassador to Russia, Li Fenglin, had some sharp words yesterday for Maritime krai governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko, but nonetheless insisted that mounting controversy over demarcation of the Russo-Chinese border would provoke no "international scandals" during Yeltsin's visit. Nazdratenko has spearheaded a heated campaign in the... MORE

Ryurikov made clear that, despite high expectations, there is no intention by the two sides to form an alliance. "Both states are big enough to ensure their security independently," he said. He also said that 14 documents would be signed during the visit, including a... MORE

Less than two days after bidding farewell to participants of the G-7 nuclear security summit, Russian president Boris Yeltsin left Moscow today for Khabarovsk. After a brief stopover there, he will continue on to Beijing, where talks are scheduled to begin on Wednesday. In political... MORE

Russia's Black Sea Fleet completed April 20 its first large-scale maneuvers of recent years. Some fifty warships plus auxiliary vessels, ground-based aviation, coastal artillery, and marine infantry practiced missile firings, torpedo attacks, antisubmarine warfare, and landing operations off the Crimea. Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Kravchenko... MORE

Estonian prime minister Tiit Vahi has proposed in an interview that his coalition government will double defense spending as of next year. Vahi noted that Estonia's defense outlays rank well below those of West European countries as a proportion of both GNP and of the... MORE

Czech president Vaclav Havel completed last weekend a week-long official visit to the three Baltic states. Havel threw the full weight of his political and moral authority behind the Baltic states' aspirations to join the European Union and NATO. He pledged Czech support for those... MORE

Uzbek president Islam Karimov yesterday urged French president Jacques Chirac to encourage French companies to trade with and invest in Uzbekistan. Karimov pointed out that French companies lag way behind those of other nations doing business with Uzbekistan. Ex-president Francois Mitterrand signed a French-Uzbek cooperation... MORE

Both the Russian state arms trading company Rosvooruzheniye and the Indian Foreign Ministry have denied that India would purchase a number of Russian Su-30MK fighters. The alleged deal, said to have been worth $1.8 billion, was reported by an Indian newspaper April 14. (Kommersant-daily &... MORE

A Russian Foreign Ministry official yesterday denied that Russia had any intention of offering asylum to Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. "At least the Foreign Ministry is unaware of such intentions," he said. The official noted that the two men are wanted... MORE

A Russian daily has questioned the existence of a military reform plan that defense minister Pavel Grachev announced April 16 would be launched following the June presidential election. (See Monitor, April 18) The newspaper queried the head of the Duma Defense Committee, a military committee... MORE