The government opposition agreement on a temporary cease-fire both in Tajikistan itself and along the Tajik-Afghan border expires today. The powers of the joint cease-fire control commission also expire today. The commission's co-chairman for the opposition, Zafar Rahmonov, was violently kidnapped February 24 on a... MORE

The Russian government's interdepartmental commission for CIS affairs has approved recommendations to expand the training of officers and cadets from CIS member countries in Russian military schools. At a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Bolshakov, the commission decided to increase the number of... MORE

On February 23, Chechens commemorated the 1944 mass deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples by the USSR authorities. According to Russian state television, "almost all of the republic's villages" held rallies demanding Chechnya's independence and the withdrawal of Russian troops. In Grozny, army and... MORE

In a move that U.S. officials called "premature," Russian president Boris Yeltsin issued a decree February 23 lifting UN sanctions on the Bosnian Serbs. Sergei Lavrov, Russia's UN envoy, said that Russia had informed the UN Security Council of Moscow's intentions that same day. "We... MORE

Yeltsin's speechwriters evidently hope either that the government can take measures to quickly improve living standards and thus secure a Yeltsin victory in June, or that dismissing a government associated with hard times offers the best chance of restoring Yeltsin's popularity. If the latter interpretation... MORE

Reception for Yeltsin's speech inside Russia was largely negative. The reform-oriented newspaper Segodnya voiced unease that, instead of attacking the Communists, the president directed his fire at the reform wing of his own government. (4) The Communist speaker of the Duma, Gennady Seleznev, pointed out... MORE

In his state of the nation speech February 23, President Boris Yeltsin warned his government that it would be replaced if it did not raise popular living standards soon (presumably, well before the June presidential elections). Yeltsin accused Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's cabinet of "focusing... MORE

In a state of the nation speech devoted primarily to domestic issues, Russian President Boris Yeltsin's remarks on foreign and security policy stuck to well-worn complaints about NATO enlargement and an alleged failure by the world to respect Russia's broader interests. "We are alarmed by... MORE

Much as he did February 15 in Yekaterinburg, Yeltsin again slammed Defense Minister Pavel Grachev during his state of the nation speech. "The unsystematic way that military reform has been handled so far cannot be called real reform," Yeltsin said. Not coincidentally, Yeltsin's speech coincided... MORE

1. Financial Times, February 23 2. Obshchaya gazeta, February 22 3. Izvestiya, February 15; for a full report of the second article, see Monitor, February 21 4. Reuter & Russian TV, February 21 & 22 5. Interfax, February 22 6. UPI, February 22 7. Itar-Tass,... MORE