After a tumultuous debate, the upper house of the Russian parliament last night appealed to the lower house to reconsider its March 15 vote denouncing the 1991 Belovezhye accords. (Russian Television, Interfax, March 19) It took the senators several hours just to decide whether to... MORE

The Belarus government yesterday reported that the country has completed the dismantling of 130 combat aircraft it was required to eliminate in accordance with the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. The government further reported that it has as of now scrapped 89 percent of the... MORE

Russian year-on-year inflation fell to 89 percent in February, from 104 percent in January. This is the first time Russia has recorded double-digit annualized inflation since the beginning of the economic reforms in January 1992. (Reuter, March 19) Belarus Approaches Completion of CFE Arms Cuts.

The Committees on Security and International Affairs of the Russian Duma are reportedly competing to win responsibility for oversight of the

Shots were fired on Monday evening at the windows of the downtown Moscow apartment of the chairman of the Russian Central Bank, Sergei Dubinin. Dubinin himself was not at home and no one was injured. (Interfax, March 19) Russian Inflation Falls Below 100 Percent.

A Bosnian Serb delegation yesterday requested economic aid from Moscow and the establishment of direct trade relations between Russia and the Republika Srpska. An official of the Russian Ministry for Economic Relations said that Russia was seriously considering the request, but that no documents had... MORE

Several leading members of the upper house of the Russian parliament suggested yesterday that it might be necessary to reschedule the presidential election. They included the governor of Moscow oblast, the president of Karachaevo-Cherkessiya, and the governor of Samara oblast, Konstantin Titov., who told the... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday traced the logical implications of the Duma's denunciation of the Belovezhye accord. Russia's 1993 constitution would ineffective, the bicameral parliament elected under that constitution would be illegitimate, the status of Russian Federation would be in question, and, irony of ironies,... MORE

Boris Yeltsin yesterday ordered the Foreign Ministry to prepare a plan of action aimed at mitigating the impact abroad of the Duma's March 17 vote annulling the disbandment of the USSR. A ministry spokesman said that the vote had greatly complicated Russia's diplomatic situation. (Interfax,... MORE

U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher yesterday called the Russian Duma's March 17 vote annulling the disbandment of the USSR a "highly irresponsible" act. Speaking during a visit to Kiev, Christopher also declared that the world community would oppose any attempts to alter Ukraine's sovereign... MORE