Jane's Defense Weekly reports in its September 9 issue that a Russian submarine has carried out the launch of a trial ballistic missile from the North Pole. The SS-N-20 missile, carrying 10 unarmed warheads, landed near Arkhangelsk with a claimed accuracy of 500 meters. Energy... MORE

Malcolm Rifkind shortened a two-day visit to Moscow after Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin sent word September 6 that they were too busy to meet with him. Russian foreign ministry officials conceded that Rifkind's was disappointed by this turn of events. Gonzales Well Received... MORE

Yeltsin and Chernomyrdin cordially received Spanish prime minister and current EU Council chairman Felipe Gonzales September 6. They praised Gonzales' efforts to secure ratification of the EU-Russia partnership and trade agreements, and urged the lifting of EU's "discriminatory" treatment of Russian goods. Kovalev Awarded Nuernberg... MORE

The Washington Post reports that Russia has informed the Clinton administration that it is going ahead with the sale to Iran of up to four nuclear reactors, in defiance of U.S. appeals that Russia cancel the deal. Russian Leaders Snub British Foreign Secretary.

The Russian foreign ministry has sharply criticized France for conducting a nuclear test in the South Pacific, asserting that the French action "dealt a serious blow" to nuclear disarmament and to non-proliferation agreements. Russia to Defy U.S. on Nuclear Deal with Iran

President Boris Yeltsin said on Thursday that Russia might revise its relations with NATO because of the alliance's air strikes in Bosnia. Ignoring Russia's view, he said, could once again split the world into "two camps which are at war with one another." NATO officials... MORE

On September 4 in Tashkent, Karimov and Georgia's head of state Eduard Shevardnadze conferred about opening a "transport corridor" from Uzbekistan to Georgia, which would include pipelines and overland routes running through Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan plans to use the corridor for bringing its oil, gas, and... MORE

At a session of the Japan-Kyrgyzstan joint economic commission in Bishkek September 5, Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev promised to provide attractive incentives for Japanese investment in his country, especially in the textile and food processing industries and for airport modernization. In return for their investment... MORE

In an address inaugurating Uzbekistan's first military academy, President Islam Karimov said that national independence had made it possible for Uzbekistan to train its military officers on its own territory, Interfax reported September 4. Karimov warned that that academy graduates would need a high level... MORE

Turkmenistan and Iran signed September 5 in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat an agreement to build a 140 kilometer gas trunk line to link their pipeline systems, IRNA reported. The trunk line will enable Turkmenistan, the world's fourth largest gas producer, to export some of its... MORE