President Yeltsin met yesterday with Yegor Gaidar, former prime minister and now leader of Russia's Democratic Choice. The meeting was officially described as one of a series of consultations the president will be holding with political leaders in coming weeks. (5) Gaidar, who has been... MORE

In a long interview with a Russian daily on February 28, the president's national security advisor, Yuri Baturin, said that a series of documents outlining Russia's national security interests were likely to be made public sometime in May, prior to the presidential election. Baturin identifies... MORE

As for economic black spots, Chernomyrdin called for a major drive to stamp out widespread tax evasion. Criticizing the Finance Ministry for failing to come up with any good ideas about improving the collection of taxes, Chernomyrdin said he was putting First Deputy Premier Vladimir... MORE

Addressing an expanded meeting of the cabinet yesterday, Chernomyrdin acknowledged the criticism leveled at his government by President Yeltsin, and recognized that economic reforms had exacted a heavy social cost. The overall tone of the prime minister's report was, however, rather cheerful. February inflation reached... MORE

Chernomyrdin's best news concerned inflation which, according to the official Russian Statistics Committee, dropped to 2.8 percent in February. (1) This is the lowest monthly figure since Russia began its economic reform in January 1992. Thanks to the policies of the reform wing of the... MORE

Chernomyrdin's speech, although generally pro-reform, contained some ominous notes. "A range of protectionist measures will be introduced in the field of foreign trade," the prime minister was quoted as stating. His words aroused concern that Russia may be planning to revert to protectionist policies, in... MORE

1. Interfax, February 28 2. Interfax, February 28 3. Russian Television, February 28 4. Interfax, February 28 5. Reuter, UPI, AP, February 28 6. Reuter, February 28 7. Interfax, February 28 8. Reuter & Interfax, February 27 9. Interfax, February 27 10. Reuter, February 28... MORE

The Crimean parliament yesterday approved the appointment as prime minister of Arkady Demidenko, a 46-year-old ethnic Ukrainian who previously held the post of first deputy prime minister and who is regarded as pragmatic and non-partisan. Crimea, where the majority of the population are ethnic Russians,... MORE

In remarks to the press yesterday, Turkey's ambassador to Russia underlined the extent to which rapidly developing bilateral economic relations are counterbalancing geopolitical competition between the two. "We would like Russians to view relations between Russia and Turkey in the light of economic trade relations... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday praised a statement issued by the UN Security Council that "strongly deplored" the February 24 shooting down by Cuban fighter jets of two U.S. civilian aircraft. The UN statement was considerably milder than what the U.S. had sought, however, and... MORE