Addressing the German Foreign Policy Society in Bonn yesterday, Estonian foreign minister Siim Kallas said that Western denials failed to dispel apprehension in newly independent countries that a redivision of Europe might be agreed upon with Russia. Any statement casting doubt on the Baltic states'... MORE

Aleksei Podberyozkin, deputy chairman of Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov's presidential campaign and also deputy chairman of the Duma International Affairs Committee, told a briefing yesterday that Zyuganov and his team would seek "the reestablishment of the single union state" if the Communists win Russia's... MORE

On the eve of parliamentary discussions on a bill for alternative military service, a Russian General Staff chief said that such a law should specify that alternative service falls under the purview of federal -- rather than regional -- authorities, and that it must be... MORE

In a poll of 1,600 Russian citizens of various ages and social backgrounds, 42 percent of respondents said they would prefer a planned economy for Russia. Only 33 percent said they preferred a market economy, and 25 percent had no opinion. The poll, which was... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has approved a plan that would raise Russia's State Committee for Defense Industries to the level of a ministry, First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets told a meeting of the committee leadership yesterday. Soskovets presented the action as part of a government... MORE

In its annual economic survey published this week, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) reports that while several of the former Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe are experiencing rapid economic growth, industrial output remains well below 1989 levels in Russia and most... MORE

Rem Vyakhirev, chairman of Gazprom, said earlier this month that Russia's gas giant had nothing to fear from a Communist victory in the June presidential elections: Gazprom was "too powerful a company with too important a role" to be attacked by the Kremlin, he asserted.... MORE

Moscow's initial reaction to a preliminary U.S. proposal for quadripartite Korean peace talks was one of displeasure at having been left on the sidelines once again. U.S. president Bill Clinton and his South Korean counterpart, President Kim Young-sam, offered yesterday to bring China into what... MORE

Western diplomats indicated yesterday that Russia would sign a statement during the April 19-20 nuclear security summit that calls for a complete ban on all nuclear tests and explosions. (Reuter, April 16) If true, the action would move Moscow back into concert with its Western... MORE

Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto intends to propose a broadening of bilateral political and economic relations, as well as an intensification of talks on security matters, during talks with Boris Yeltsin at the upcoming nuclear security summit, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. All... MORE