1. Interfax, BBC World Service, January 23 2. Interfax, Russian TV, January 23 3. UPI, January 23 4. Interfax, January 23 5. Interfax, January 23 6. Interfax, January 23 7. Interfax, January 23 8. Russian Public Television, "Vremya," January 23 9. Interfax, January 21 10.... MORE

Kazakhstan's state oil concern Munaigaz yesterday reported 1995 total crude oil exports of 10.6 million tons. Of that amount, 6.9 million tons went to former Soviet republics, including 4.4 million to Russia. Only 3.7 million tons were exported outside the former USSR. The joint Kazakh-Chevron... MORE

Russian Foreign Ministry chief spokesman Grigory Karasin yesterday criticized "unfriendly statements directed against Russia" allegedly made by Umirserik Kasenov, director of Kazakhstan's Strategic Research Institute. Speaking at an international seminar on "Foreign Policy and Security in the Caucasus and Central Asia," Karasin charged that Kasenov's... MORE

Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev and the management of the Azeri state oil company conferred yesterday in Baku with top executives of the U.S. company Mobil Oil. Mobil is said to be interested in exploring and developing oilfields on Azerbaijan's Caspian shelf to the south of... MORE

Commanders of Russian and Turkmen border troops have signed an agreement to cooperate in guarding Turkmenistan's borders. The agreement sets the strength of the operational group of Russian border troops in Turkmenistan at 1,000. An accompanying document establishes a Russian border guard advisory group to... MORE

Ukrainian prime minister Yevhen Marchuk is holding talks this week with his Slovak counterpart Vladimir Meciar at Strbske Pleso, a Tatra mountain retreat. Their talks will be devoted to bilateral relations and developing Ukraine's ties with Central European countries. The agenda includes creation of a... MORE

After conferring in Tallinn January 22 and 23, the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian defense ministers approved a plan for military cooperation among their countries in 1996. However, the ministers played down recent proposals to create a military alliance or military union among the three Baltic... MORE

At their January 19 summit meeting in Moscow, the leaders of CIS states adopted policy decisions on three conflicts within member countries. The common denominator of the decisions appears to be an attempt by Moscow to reduce its military involvement in these conflicts and to... MORE

Russia's new foreign minister and KGB veteran Yevgeny Primakov will tour the CIS member countries to meet with those countries' leaders and foreign ministers. Russia's Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that Primakov has already scheduled visits to Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan within the next... MORE

The Duma has invited First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets to attend its next session, set for January 31, to explain the role of the headquarters recently created in the Kremlin to organize next June's presidential election. Deputies expressed concern that a parallel body to... MORE