Russian president Boris Yeltsin invited Serbianpresident Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian president Franjo Tudjmanto Moscow for immediate negotiations to end the fighting in theformer Yugoslavia, UPI reported this morning. Croatian army forcesconquered the rebel Serb region of Krajina over the weekend,forcing as many as 150,000 refugees... MORE

The truce continued generally tohold, but there was sporadic shooting August 5 and 6 between Russianand Chechen troops in various parts of Chechnya including Grozny,with at least one Russian soldier killed and several wounded,Russian TV and radio reported. The Russian supreme commander inChechnya, Lt. General... MORE

Buying votes is anancient, if not entirely honorable, practice, but Russian nationalistVladimir Zhirinovsky has added a new wrinkle to the electionprocess. He has sold slots on his party list to those who canpersonally pay sizable chunks of cash into the party's coffers,Obshchaya gazeta (no. 31)... MORE

Uzbekistanhas suspended gas deliveries to Tajikistan because Dushanbe hasfailed to pay its bills, the BBC reported August 3 citing Tajikradio. Tajikistan had agreed to make up an earlier shortfall of$2 million but had paid only half of that amount by July 25. Zhirinovsky Sells Out... MORE

Armenianhuman rights activist Paruir Hairikian called on all oppositionparties to unite in selecting a single candidate to oppose incumbentLevon Ter-Petrosyan in next year's presidential vote, Armenianmedia reported August 3. Iran to Set Up Oil Companies for the Caucasus.

Tehran willset up two new oil exploration companies, one in partnership withRussia and one in partnership with Azerbaijan, the BBC reportedAugust 3 citing Tehran radio. By making an arrangement with bothsides in the Caspian sea dispute, Iran is in a position to increaseits influence regardless... MORE

TheCrimean parliament has formed a delegation to participate in theBlack Sea Fleet talks between Moscow and Kiev, Moscow radio reportedAugust 3. The two sides in the talks at present have not takena public position on Crimean participation. Baku Refuses to Register Popular Front.

The Azerbaijaniauthorities have refused to register the Azerbaijani Popular Frontand thus, to allow it to compete in the upcoming parliamentaryelections, Interfax reported August 3. Led by ousted presidentAbulfaz Elcibey, the front converted itself into a political partyearlier this year in order to be able to... MORE

Communist parties in 10 of the former Soviet republics issueda joint protest August 2 over the conviction of Alfreds Rubiks,the former Latvian Communist party chief, last week, BNS reported. Moscow Black Sea Fleet Talks Make Little Progress.

Russianand Ukrainian negotiators reported little progress August 3 intheir talks concerning the future of the Black Sea Fleet, Russianand Ukrainian media said. One indication of how difficult thediscussions may be is that the Ukrainian foreign ministry refusedto set any date for a visit to the... MORE