Yesterday, November 16, was the formal deadline for fulfilling the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. Belarus met 70 percent of its obligations, according to Foreign Minister Uladzimir Syanko, who also said that Minsk needed more Western financial assistance to tackle the remaining 30 percent. (6)... MORE

Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev claimed yesterday that changes sought by Russia to the CFE Treaty also take into account the "interests" of certain former Soviet republics. First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Col. General Vladimir Zhurbenko, in turn, predicted that some CIS countries... MORE

Foreign Minister Povilas Gylys told a Vilnius news conference yesterday that "Lithuania will not alter its strategic goal of integration into Western defense institutions" as a result of Russian warnings, from Defense Minister Pavel Grachev the previous day. (See the November 16 Monitor) That integration... MORE

The federal budget owes the Defense Ministry 16.2 trillion rubles, according to Defense Minister Pavel Grachev. Next year's draft budget sets aside only 77.1 out of the minimum required 134 trillion rubles requested by the Defense Ministry, he added. (4) Lithuanian Newspaper Bombed.

A powerful bomb rocked the offices of the largest daily newspaper in the Baltic state of Lithuania today but there were no reports of injuries, editorial staff at the paper Lietuvos Rytas said. A senior editor said the bomb might have been a revenge attack... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin will probably remain in the hospital until the end of this month, his chief spokesman said today. (2) Oil and Gas Production.

Russian oil and gas production in 1995 is projected at 296 million tons of crude oil and 551 billion cubic meters of gas, a 4 to 5 percent reduction compared to the corresponding figures for last year (308 million tons and 581 billion cubic meters,... MORE

Today's deadline for the final implementation of a European conventional arms reduction treaty passed with negotiators hunting for a compromise deal between Moscow and NATO over weapons limits on Russia's borders. (See "Perspective" item below) (1) Yeltsin to Stay in Hospital.

According to Colonel Vasily Likholet, spokesman of Tajikistan's Defense Ministry, government troops backed by aviation and artillery are currently counterattacking against insurgent forces in Tavil-Dara rayon, part of the larger Garm area in the Pamir foothills. Dushanbe military intelligence sources for their part confirm recent... MORE

Talks between the international consortium involved in the $8 billion oil contract in Azerbaijan and the Russian government resumed November 13 in Moscow. The object is the transportation of part of "early" Azerbaijani oil to Russia's oil port of Novorossiisk on the Black Sea. But... MORE