U.S. defense secretary William Perry told a symposium in Washington January 10 that NATO expansion is inevitable. He said Russia should not view the expansion as a threat because Russia will be working with NATO as a partner. Perry suggested that Bosnia might contribute to... MORE

Upon his return from France yesterday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced that Russia was prepared to withdraw all its troops from Chechnya if rebel troops agreed to abandon the use of force. Yeltsin, who was in France to attend the funeral of former French president... MORE

The standoff between approximately 200 Chechen fighters and a growing contingent of Russian troops in the Dagestani village of Pervomaiskaya continued into a second day Friday. Russian commanders refuse to let the convoy cross into Chechnya until rebel leaders release the estimated 160 hostages they... MORE

1. Russian, Western news agencies, January 10 2. Interfax, January 10 3. Interfax, January 10 4. Interfax, January 10 5. Interfax, January 10 6. Interfax, January 10 7. Izvestiya, January 6 8. Interfax, January 10 9. Interfax, January 10 10. Interfax, January 9 11. BNS,... MORE

At its first session of in the new year, the Uzbek government discussed with regional officials measures to relieve the difficult situation of cotton farming, the country's prime foreign exchange earner. The session, chaired by Uzbek president Islam Karimov, emphasized the importance of timely irrigation... MORE

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan has signed a decree that substantially enhances his powers, the president's legal adviser Igor Rogov said yesterday. The decree makes the Kazakh president the only authority who can initiate constitutional amendments, denying parliamentary deputies that right. It also allows the... MORE

Prominent parliamentarians have expressed disappointment with the outcome of U.S. defense secretary William Perry's visit last week to Ukraine. During his visit, Perry held nuclear disarmament talks with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts and traveled to Pervomaisk to witness the destruction of an SS-19 missile... MORE

Moscow appears to have little leverage in the dispute over transit fees for Russian oil transported through Ukraine by the Druzhba pipeline system. Russia's Fuel and Energy Ministry (Mintopenergo) halted oil deliveries through the pipeline January 1 in an attempt to force Ukraine to abandon... MORE

The Estonian parliament yesterday adopted a law on the procedure for declaring a state of emergency in the country. A state of emergency may be declared in the entire country or part of it for up to three months by the president, the cabinet of... MORE

A week before Chechen fighters seized 2,000 hostages in the Dagestani town of Kizlyar, governor P. Marchenko of Stavropol krai said he had been promised special powers if his region was again threatened by terrorist action. Stavropol krai borders Chechnya and Dagestan. Chechen rebels' first... MORE