A Russian deputy foreign minister yesterday called upon Iraq to meet "scrupulously, unconditionally, and fully" all international demands that have been placed on Baghdad. His comments followed a visit to Moscow by Rolf Ekeus, chairman of the UN commission overseeing elimination of Iraq's weapons of... MORE

Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin says he will not challenge President Boris Yeltsin if the president decides to run for a second term in office. Also declaring its support for Yeltsin yesterday was the leadership of the "Russia is Our Home" movement, which Chernomyrdin leads. At... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov is scheduled to meet for the first time today with his American counterpart, Warren Christopher, for talks that few believe will yield any significant diplomatic breakthroughs. The pressure on Primakov to assume a more assertive posture in his dealings with... MORE

The mass demonstration for Chechen independence continued in central Grozny for the fifth consecutive day yesterday despite threats by the Russian command and Moscow-installed authorities to disperse it by force. Demonstrators have erected a tent city in front of the destroyed presidential palace, maintaining a... MORE

. President Boris Yeltsin told the press yesterday he was convinced that "if we withdraw the troops, there will be a massacre throughout Chechnya. If we don't, it will be useless for me to seek re-election. The people won't elect me." According to the president... MORE

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff dismissed as outmoded yesterday the notion that "buffer zones" are required to separate NATO from Russia. General John Shalikashvili told reporters following talks in Romania that "NATO is not in confrontation with Russia" and that buffer... MORE

U.S. assistant secretary of state Richard Holbrooke assured Polish leaders in Warsaw February 7 that strong Russian opposition to NATO expansion would not affect the schedule for admitting new alliance members from Eastern Europe. Holbrooke's remarks came amid suspicions in Poland that the recent spy... MORE

1. Interfax & Reuter, February 7 2. Russian TV, Geroy dnya & Interfax, February 7 3. Reuter and Interfax, February 7 4. Interfax, February 7 5. Moscow News, January 24-February 4 6. The New York Times and AP, February 7 7. Interfax, February 7 8.... MORE

Tajik resistance forces yesterday resumed advances against government troops in the mountainous Tavildar district. Military officials in Dushanbe acknowledged that their troops had been forced to retreat a further 1 to 1.5 kilometers and had lost tactically important heights. They also reported that some 150... MORE

Duma chairman Communist Gennady Seleznev, together with Vice Chairman Sergei Baburin, CIS Affairs Committee Chairman Georgy Tikhonov, and other Communist and ultranationalist deputies received the leader of the unrecognized Abkhaz republic in the Duma between January 31 and February 5. Vladislav Ardzinba's hosts in the... MORE