Russian troops yesterday halted a convoy of buses and trucks carrying approximately 200 Chechen fighters and some 160 hostages before it crossed the Dagestani border into Chechnya. The convoy was stopped midday in the Dagestani village of Pervomaiskaya, now surrounded by Russian army troops. Chechen... MORE

1. Russian, Western news agencies, January 10 2. Reuter, January 8 3. The Washington Post, January 9 4. Interfax, January 9 5. Reuter, January 8 6. Interfax, January 9 7. Interfax-Ukraine, January 9 8. Reuter, January 9 9. Interfax, January 9 10. Itar-Tass, Interfax, Western... MORE

Rekindled hopes that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) would begin work on the Tengiz pipeline project after January 1, or at least set an early date for its commencement, have again been dashed. Russia's fuel and energy minister Yury Shafrannik had raised such hopes for... MORE

Georgian foreign minister Irakli Menagarishvili conferred last weekend in Baku with Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev and foreign minister Hassan Hassanov. Their talks focused on Azerbaijani electricity supplies to Georgia and the project to build a pipeline to transport Azeri oil to international markets via Georgia.... MORE

On his recent visit to Ukraine, U.S. defense secretary William Perry signed with Ukrainian defense minister Valery Shmarov a plan for joint U.S.-Ukrainian military activities in 1996. Among other things, the plan reportedly envisages U.S.-Ukrainian military exercises. Both men spoke of intensive future contacts between... MORE

According to Airborne Forces commander Col. General Yevgeny Podkolzin, Russia originally considered sending as many as 10,000 troops to Bosnia, but was dissuaded by the high cost of such a mission. Podkolzin said the peacekeeping brigade would be manned almost exclusively by contract soldiers, or... MORE

Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius yesterday survived a challenge from opposition parties at an extraordinary session of the Lithuanian parliament. The parties had challenged the prime minister's handling of the country's banking crisis as well as his personal financial transactions in that crisis. Slezevicius outlined a... MORE

Only hours before Primakov's appointment as Foreign Minister was announced, Russian press reports indicated that the Foreign Ministry was working under the direction of first deputy minister Igor Ivanov. The latter had rushed back to Moscow from a vacation following Kozyrev's resignation. Yet it had... MORE

The group of Chechen fighters that seized the hospital in Kyzlyar, Dagestan yesterday were reported to number close to 500. After holding 2,000 people hostage for 24 hours and killing two of them, the rebels agreed to release most of the hostages in exchange for... MORE

For many in the west, the appointment of a top intelligence official to the post of Russian foreign minister is a disquieting signal. Yabloko's Vladimir Lukin raised another troubling consideration January 9 when he speculated that Primakov's appointment could be part of a larger plan... MORE