From August 12 through16, joint exercises will be held on the Lower Danube by navalvessels of Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, andfive Western countries. Russia, which is no longer riparian tothe Danube but keeps the Black Sea Fleet nearby, has been invitedto the exercises but... MORE

On August 9,

Ukraine'sforeign and defense ministers, Hennadi Udovenko and Valerii Shmarov,visited Serpents' Island in the Black Sea on August 10, Ukrainianand Western agencies reported. The small island is claimed byRomania, to which it belonged from 1878 until annexed in the late1940s by the USSR, from which Ukraine... MORE

Russia's ForeignMinistry demands the release of the Russian crew of an IL-76 aircraftforced down early in the week near Kandakhar by the Afghan religious-paramilitaryorganization Taliban, according to Russian and Western agencies.The Taliban fighters found a large consignment of Russian-madearms and ammunition aboard the plane. Denying... MORE

FinansovyeIzvestiya reported on August 10 that Russia has granted$5.6 billion in credits to CIS member countries as of mid-1995.Russia is due to receive debt service payments from CIS countriesin the amount of $769 million this year, according to the report. Latvian-Norwegian Military Agreement.

Russian bankers and other businessmen affiliated with theBusiness Roundtable have decided to carry out their own investigationinto the recent murder of the Roundtable's chairman, the prominentbanker Ivan Kivelidi. The Roundtable's vice chairman, VladimirShcherbakov, told Radio Russia on August 9 and 10 that affiliatedgroups have donated... MORE

Representativesof Finno-Ugric peoples from the Russian Federation and from kindredFinland, Estonia, and Hungary are currently attending a congressof Finno-Ugric studies in Jyvaskyla, Finland, Interfax reportedAugust 11. The event is the latest in a series of Finno-Ugricgatherings in recent months. Addressing the congress, Estonianpresident Lennart Meri... MORE

According to the RussianMilitary Command, two soldiers were killed and six wounded inclashes with Chechen forces August 10; there was no figure availableon Chechen casualties. Russia's chief negotiator Vyacheslav Mikhailovaccused the Chechen side of breaking the ceasefire agreement andendangering the entire peace process. Chechen chief... MORE

Duma chairman Ivan Rybkin strucka similar theme in referring to "fraternal Yugoslavia"and to historic Russian-Serbia ties. He also opined that Serbia'sarmy is "the third strongest in Europe and one must not putit to test." Rybkin seconded Yeltsin's suggestion that Russiashould lift economic sanctions on rump... MORE

We met for thefirst time but understood each other at once," Russian presidentBoris Yeltsin said on Russian TV August 10 at the end of his meeting,which he termed "historic," with Serbian president SlobodanMilosevic. "The war on Yugoslavia's territory is not yourfault," Yeltsin assured Milosevic. Praising... MORE