Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma yesterday began a five-day visit to China by signing with his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin, a statement on friendly relations and agreements on cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, avoidance of double taxation, and a mutual payment mechanism between Ukraine's... MORE

The current issue of Soldat otechestva, the weekly newspaper of Russia's Operational Group of Forces in Moldova (formerly the 14th Army) reports that Russian president Boris Yeltsin's national security adviser Yuri Baturin, and the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's political education directorate, Lt. General... MORE

Belarus deputy prime minister Valery Kokorev and other Belarus officials complained during the latest session of the CIS Oil and Gas Council in Minsk that prices for Russian fuel supplies "are nearing world levels," forcing Belarus into heavy indebtedness to Russia. (14) President Aleksandr Lukashenko... MORE

Estonian president Lennart Meri reluctantly asked December 4 for the resignation of the army commander, Lt. General Alexander Einseln, in order to end a month-long public conflict between Einseln and defense minister Andrus Oovel. Unlike Oovel, who had impugned Einseln's overall performance, Meri praised Einseln's... MORE

At a regular session held in Tallinn, the interparliamentary Baltic Assembly adopted a resolution calling for accelerated steps toward security cooperation among the three countries, coordination among their national defense forces, and the creation of common military structures, in preparation for a Baltic defensive alliance.... MORE

At least three North Ossetian Internal Affairs Ministry servicemen were killed and four injured yesterday by unidentified attackers near the border with Ingushetia. (11) Almost the entire ethnic Ingush population of North Ossetia, approximately 80,000 have lived as refugees in Ingushetia since the 1992 conflict.... MORE

This week's projected sale of 8 percent of the shares in Russia's oil giant, Yukos, has been postponed until early 1996. (9) The decision was made at the request of the company's management, a Yukos spokesman said, because managers were afraid the shares would not... MORE

An apparently non-dangerous accident yesterday occurred at Ukraine's Zaporizhe nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, when radioactive water leaked inside the casing of a primary cooling circuit. The affected reactor has been switched off for at least three days. (7) Chechnya: Amnesty Offer Likely... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has decreed the formation of a special commission in Chechnya, empowered to grant amnesty on a case-by-case basis to fighters who hand in their arms to the authorities and apply for leniency. To be chaired by Chechnya's "head" Doku Zavgayev, the... MORE

Russian soldiers may account for up to a quarter of Chechnya's votes for the Chechen head of republic and for a deputy in Russia's parliament, a Russian commander in Chechnya said today. With just 300,000 voters in Chechnya, Russian soldiers could make up 25 percent... MORE