1. NTV, February 16 2. NTV, February 15; Interfax, February 16; RTR, February 15 and 18 3. Reuter, February 16 & 17; Die Welt, February 19 4. Reuter, Itar-Tass, February 19 5. Interfax, February 16 6. Washington Post, February 16 7. Interfax, western agencies, NTV,... MORE

The fifth round of UN-mediated inter-Tajik negotiations in Ashgabat was suspended February 17, apparently indefinitely, despite the imminent expiration February 26 of the provisional cease-fire agreement. During the last phase of the talks, the government delegation demanded a six-month extension of the cease-fire based on... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov and his first deputy Boris Pastukhov, defense minister Pavel Grachev, deputy prime minister Aleksei Bolshakov, and other senior officials held consultations with Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba in Moscow from January 30 through February 16. The Abkhaz side did not relent... MORE

Iran's ambassador to Russia has protested charges made last week by Russian president Boris Yeltsin that Teheran maintains links with Chechen rebels, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported February 17. Yeltsin had said that Chechen rebels were "trained in Turkey, Iran, and other countries," but... MORE

Russian forces shelled and attempted to storm the town of Novogroznensky over the weekend in an apparent effort to destroy a 400-strong Chechen detachment based there. The storming has failed thus far, but Russian forces beat back several Chechen attempts to break out of the... MORE

Moscow will respond to NATO's expansion into eastern Europe and the deployment there of tactical nuclear weapons by destroying the sites where they are based, Russia's atomic energy minister declared February 15. In what was described as an "unprompted, Cold War-style diatribe," Viktor Mikhailov told... MORE

German chancellor Helmut Kohl arrived in Moscow yesterday amid accusations by his domestic opponents that the visit represents a personal endorsement of Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Kohl's opponents, who have been critical of Moscow for its actions in Chechnya and for the ouster of reformers... MORE

Today's one-on-one meeting between Kohl and Boris Yeltsin failed to reach a meeting of the minds on NATO enlargement. Previously, during a recent visit to Moscow by Kinkel, Yeltsin proclaimed that the two countries saw eye to eye on virtually all international issues with the... MORE

Nezavisimaya gazeta reported February 15 that Yeltsin was so alarmed by warnings that a victorious Communist leadership might put him and members of his inner circle on trial for corruption, abuse of office, or abuses perpetrated during the war in Chechnya, that he made up... MORE

Yeltsin's decision, announced Thursday, to dismiss the head of Russia's second television channel, RTR, continues to make news in Moscow. The dismissal of Oleg Poptsov, formerly a close Yeltsin ally, is being seen as further evidence of Yeltsin's lurch to the left and a blatant... MORE