Moscow and Tbilisi yesterday revealed deep differences over renewal of the mandate of the Russian "peacekeeping" contingent in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone. Georgian officials listed their terms as the expansion of the peacekeeping operation area to include all of Abkhazia -- not just the zone... MORE

Senior Latvian and Estonian diplomats failed to advance toward a solution in talks held last week in Stockholm on demarcating the Latvian-Estonian border in the Gulf of Riga. The talks "took place in a normal, calm atmosphere," but did not bridge the differences between Estonia,... MORE

"Russia's Procurator General has instituted criminal proceedings against the governor of Vologda Oblast, in northwest Russia. (11) The governor, Nikolai Podgornov, is being charged with abuse of office. The news marks the culmination of the long-running ÒGrain Affair.Ó The scandal erupted in the autumn of... MORE

The latest poll conducted by the respected All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) finds Yeltsin ranking close to the bottom among potential presidential candidates. Yeltsin was endorsed by only nine out of every hundred adults polled. Only former premier Yegor Gaidar (seven... MORE

The Duma conducted its first committee hearing on the START II treaty since the treaty's January 26 ratification by the U.S. Senate, but details of the closed meeting were sketchy and conflicting. Vladimir Lukin, head of the Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, said that party leaders... MORE

A Russian government official confirmed yesterday that Russia has concluded with Iraq some $10 billion worth of deals that will be launched as soon as UN economic sanctions against Baghdad are lifted. Last week representatives of Russia's Fuel and Energy Ministry and the Zarubezhneft oil... MORE

Eduard Sagalaev first learned that President Yeltsin had appointed him to head RussiaÕs second TV channel, RTR, from news reports, the producer said when interviewed on the first channel yesterday. (4) Sagalaev was parachuted in to head RTR after Oleg Poptsov, who had headed the... MORE

Russian atomic energy minister Viktor Mikhailov arrived in Havana February 18 to begin five days of talks aimed at resuscitating a $750 million deal to complete a nuclear power plant begun by the Soviet Union in 1976. Construction of the plant, located in Juragua, came... MORE

After nearly two hours of talks, during which NATO enlargement appeared to be the only major source of disagreement (see Monitor, February 19), German chancellor Helmut Kohl yesterday welcomed "the tight link between Boris Yeltsin's striving to be elected for a second term and his... MORE

For the third straight day yesterday Russian forces continued shelling Novogroznensk, recent site of the Chechen general staff, amid reports of civilian casualties. The Russian command banned media correspondents from the town, as it has on previous occasions when attacking Chechen towns and villages which... MORE