Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are placing trilateral defense cooperation at the core of their preparations to earn admission to NATO. Successive meetings--held by the three countries' presidents in Riga on December 15, by the defense forces commanders also in Riga afterward, and by the three... MORE

Meeting on December 16 in Moscow, the CIS Interstate Economic Committee (IEC) and Economic Council (EC) failed in their advertised goal to launch the CIS Free Trade Zone (FTZ). The CIS summit, held two weeks earlier in Minsk, had called for the follow-up meeting in... MORE

Yesterday Russian President Vladimir Putin wound up a three-day visit to Canada dominated by what has again become a much-highlighted theme of Russian diplomacy: Moscow's support for the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and its strong opposition to U.S. missile defense plans. Putin arrived in... MORE

In one of the more audacious assassination attempts in Moscow's history, Iosif Ordzhonikidze, a deputy prime minister in the Moscow city government, was shot yesterday in broad daylight within sight of the Kremlin. Ordzhonikidze was being driven to work when an assailant wielding an AK-47... MORE

Shirvani Basaev, brother of Chechen rebel field commander Shamil Basaev, was reportedly killed by federal forces this week, as was Ruslan Tsagaraev, chief of staff of the separatist forces. The news that Basaev and Tsagaraev had been killed was first reported on December 18 by... MORE

Political opportunism, a Moscow-centric mindset and illusory hope for economic relief seem to be pushing Moldova's President Petru Lucinschi and his team into the accustomed orbit of Russia. Lucinschi, a virtual lame duck, is fighting for his political survival in Chisinau. He is desperate to... MORE

For the second year running, the Japanese government will apparently be frustrated in its effort to finalize a peace treaty with Russia--a treaty which would also resolve a long-standing and crucial dispute over ownership of the four disputed South Kuril Islands. Under the terms of... MORE

There has been no let-up in the battle between Russia's governors and President Vladimir Putin's team. The focus of the struggle is the ongoing series of elections for regional governors. December 17 saw elections in seven regions; more will be held on December 24. Perhaps... MORE

An article in the December 14 issue of the Russian Defense Ministry's organ Krasnaya Zvezda hints at the possibility of territorial claims with respect to Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Under the seemingly predestined (unless pseudonymous) byline, Yaroslav Yastrebov (Yastrebov means "hawkish"), the article purports to cite... MORE

President Vladimir Putin wound up several days of talks in Cuba this weekend which proved in general to be longer on rhetoric than substance. The high-profile visit to the Caribbean island--the first by a Russian leader since 1989--had been anticipated by many as a major... MORE