Russia could pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty on arms reduction if NATO expands eastward, a Russian official was quoted as saying on Monday. The official, who declined to be named, said: "In the case of, say, former Warsaw Pact members... MORE

Tajikistan's internal affairs minister Saidamir Zukhurov told a Dushanbe briefing yesterday that this month alone, his ministry's troops have lost 30 killed in fighting the opposition in the mountainous Garm area. The minister vowed that "no effort would be spared to stabilize the situation there."... MORE

On November 13 in Yerevan, Armenian prime minister Hrant Bagratian conferred with a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Albert Chernyshev on political and economic cooperation between the two countries. They discussed, inter alia, practical measures to restore the Abkhazian section of the Trans-Caucasus... MORE

Belarus's Constitutional Court has asked the Central Electoral Commission for an opinion as to whether the parliamentary balloting on November 29 can proceed on the basis of two different versions of the election law. (14) The first, requiring a 50 percent minimum turnout for valid... MORE

Yesterday in Kiev, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma addressed a meeting of heads of district state administrations, and said that there could be no question of a Russian-Ukrainian "strategic partnership" (an often-used Moscow phrase) if the two countries "can't live in peace even in one city."... MORE

In a November 8 note to Latvia, Lithuania attempted to redefine its claim to territorial waters and an economic zone in the Baltic Sea. On November 15 Latvia's foreign ministry rejected Lithuania's position. The Latvian response said that Latvia regards the concessions made during previous... MORE

Boris Yeltsin's former power base, Sverdlovsk Oblast, is set to become the first Russian region to sign the kind of treaty with the federal center that has been pioneered by Tatarstan and other Russian republics. This is part of the ongoing attempt to rebuild the... MORE

Russia has reached agreement with international banks to rechedule a substantial part of its foreign debt. The agreement signed in Frankfurt yesterday, comes after four years' negotiation and requires Russia to repay $32 billion over a period of 25 years. This represents the bulk of... MORE

On a working visit to Moscow, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Robert Gelbard, told Russia's internal affairs minister Anatoly Kulikov that the two countries must intensify cooperation against organized crime networks and drug syndicates, including those operating from... MORE

On November 15 Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered that concurrent federal and republican elections are to take place in Chechnya on December 17. That order has surprised and shocked Chechen political forces, including some of Moscow's collaborators. Yesterday, in separate statements, many spoke out. President... MORE