The normally pro-Armenian Russian press has begunto shift its position largely in response to the efforts by Armenianpresident Levon Ter-Petrosian to exclude the ARF-Dashnak organizationfrom political life and try its leaders for terrorism. In itslatest issue, Moskovskiye novosti carries an article that suggestsTer-Petrosian has established... MORE

During meetings with Azerbaijani government officials in BakuAugust 23, Russian special ambassador for the Karabakh issue andco-chairman of the OSCE Minsk group proposed that Russia be givencontrol of the Lachin corridor between Armenia and Karabakh, Bakuradio reported. Azerbaijani authorities oppose such a step whichwould effectively... MORE

On the 40thday after the death of a Ukrainian Orthodox churchman whom Kyivdid not allow to be buried in St. Sophia cathedral, supportersof the cleric lashed out at the government for that and for failingto promote Ukrainianization, Ukrinform reported August 23. Some4,000 Ukrainian faithful gathered... MORE

Senior Ukrainian militarycommanders were behind the theft and attempted sale on the blackmarket of 11 "Strela" and "Igolka" mobileanti-aircraft missile systems, Komsomolskaya pravda reportedAugust 23. Investigators told the paper that they had been ableto crack the case by tracking a series of mysterious deaths ofsenior... MORE

Although it still does not have a quorum, membersof the Belarusian parliament elected earlier this summer willmeet September 5 to discuss a variety of issues, Minsk radio said.Then on November 29, elections will take place to fill the 141of the 260 seats still vacant. Missiles... MORE

Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenkodenounced one of his political opponents, Gennady Karpenko, forseeking to undermine the republic's economy by blocking the flowof Uzbek cotton into Belarus, Moscow radio reported August 23.Meanwhile, the Belarusian supreme court ruled in Lukashenko'sfavor that the ongoing strike against the Minsk metro... MORE

The Russian interior ministry has told Vilnius that it does nothave files on most of the Lithuanians deported to Siberia by Stalinand will release the files it does have only to immediate familymembers, BNS reported August 23. The Russian authorities saidthat they had found only... MORE

The Latviangovernment suspended the work of the Latvian Credit Bank becauseits managers had given loans with excessive risk and had exceededthe amount of loans it was allowed to make on the basis of itscapitalization, BNS reported August 23. Moscow Claims Not to Have Archives on... MORE

Some 20 Estonian activists from the Estonian National IndependenceParty picketed the Russian embassy in Tallinn August 23 to markthe 56th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentroppact, BNS reported. That pact and its secret protocol which allowedStalin to seize all three Baltic countries set off... MORE

Following a meeting with German defense minister Volker Ruehewho said that Russia did not pose a danger to the Baltic states,Estonian president Lennart Meri said that NATO should not decideto admit new members simply on the basis of geographic units suchas the Visegrad four. To... MORE