Commenting on the change of presidency in Poland, Ukrainian foreign minister Hennady Udovenko said that "Ukraine must express gratitude to outgoing president Lech Walesa for all he has done to advance comprehension, especially in the West, of the fact that Ukraine is an independent state."... MORE

Eleven people were killed and two wounded in a suspected gangland shoot-out in the office of a small business in the central Russian city of Saratov, an Interior Ministry spokesman said today. He confirmed a report which said the chairman of the Grozd company and... MORE

Russia's Federation Council has appealed to the parliaments of European and North American countries to help stop NATO's enlargement. "The move of NATO's military machine toward Russia's borders seriously threatens Russia's political, economic, and military security," the message said. Russia is refraining from "steps to... MORE

. In extending congratulations yesterday to Aleksander Kwasniewski on his election as Poland's new president, Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin noted that Russian-Polish relations are developing "not badly, but perhaps not as we would like them to." (5) This was a reference, first and foremost,... MORE

US Defense Secretary William Perry yesterday told the press in Tallinn that he was advising Baltic leaders that NATO would not "prioritize" the candidacy of any country for membership in the alliance. " Admission to NATO membership for any country is many years away, and... MORE

The Russian Duma adopted November 17, a statement denouncing "the violation of the rights and freedoms of ethnic Russians and Russian citizens in Kazakhstan." The statement accused Kazakhstan of discriminating against the Russian language, closing Russian schools, attacking Orthodox churches, dismissing Russians from high-level posts... MORE

Turkmenistan's government has agreed to at least maintain and possibly increase, the flow of gas supplies to Ukraine in 1996 and to lower the price for gas, despite Ukrainian arrears for past deliveries. In negotiations with Ukrainian first deputy prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko in Ashgabat,... MORE

CIS executive secretary Ivan Korotchenya has announced a further postponement of the CIS summit originally due to have been held in September. Following postponements from month to month, its latest scheduled date on December 8, 1995 has been tentatively shifted to January 12, 1996. Korotchenya... MORE

According to Armenian deputy foreign minister Vardan Ozganian, last week's round of talks on settling the Karabakh conflict was the most unsuccessful in the history of the talks and marked a backward step in the peace process. Azerbaijan demanded the return of Lachin corridor as... MORE

Following a weekend visit to Kiev and Donetsk, World Bank president James Wolfensohn announced that the World Bank is prepared to offer Ukraine $1 billion per annum for the next three years. (14) An initial $10 million already is on its way to pay for... MORE