Russia's Duma today voted overwhelmingly against considering a proposal by deputy Konstantin Borovoy (Economic Freedom Party) to amnesty Djohar Dudaev in order to facilitate the beginning of political negotiations toward peace in Chechnya. (Interfax, March 13) Yavlinsky Initiates Motion of No Confidence in Government.

Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky today circulated in the Duma a motion of no-confidence in the government. It held Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the defense and Internal Affairs ministers, Pavel Grachev and Anatoly Kulikov, co-responsible with President Boris Yeltsin for "killing civilians and sending soldiers... MORE

According to Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma's spokesman, Kuchma and Russian president Boris Yeltsin spoke yesterday by telephone, focusing on Yeltsin's official visit to Ukraine tentatively scheduled for early April. The presidents were said to agree that the two prime ministers would meet if necessary in... MORE

Russia and Iran agreed during talks in Moscow late last week that the two countries would continue to cooperate in the area of nuclear energy. The declaration signified Moscow's intention to continue construction of the $800 million Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran, despite U.S. objections.... MORE

A month before Moscow's G-7 summit on nuclear security, a Russian scientist has warned that the West is right to be concerned about the potential flow of illegal nuclear materials from Russia. Vladimir Shmelyov called for greater cooperation with the United States on assuring nuclear... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced yesterday that he has issued a decree making the Foreign Ministry the sole coordinating agent of all Russia's actions in the international arena. Yeltsin admitted that currently "there is some lack of coordination in the pursuit of a unified foreign... MORE

1. Interfax, Itar-Tass, NTV, western agencies, Match 7 2. Itar-Tass, Interfax, NTV, March 7 3. Interfax and Russian Public Television, "Vremya," March 7 4. Reuter & AP, March 7 5. Vechernyaya Moskva, March 6 6. Interfax, March 7 7. Interfax, March 7 8. Interfax, March... MORE

A new government proposed by President Askar Akayev and approved by the legislature took office in Kyrgyzstan this week. Most of its key members, including Prime Minister Apas Jumagalov, had served in the same posts in the preceding government (see Monitor, February 27). For reasons... MORE

The presidents of Lithuania and Poland, Agirdas Brazauskas and Aleksander Kwasniewski, and members of the two governments conferred March 5 and 6 in Vilnius on a wide range of political and security issues. The sides agreed to proceed from the principle that Lithuania's and Poland's... MORE

The presidium of the parliament of Crimea, UkraineÕs only autonomous entity, announced yesterday that it reserves the right to lift its moratorium on calling a referendum on the status of the peninsula, that is, on whether or not to secede from Ukraine. (10) Crimean leaders... MORE