After the election of a new parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on March 31, majority has become a buzzword in Ukraine (see the Monitor, April 3). The need for a stable majority in the legislature is well understood. It is understood especially well by President Leonid Kuchma:... MORE

In an apparent indication of Moscow's continued unwillingness to satisfy U.S. demands that it distance itself from Tehran, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a warm welcome to Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on April 5. Kharrazi's reception in the Kremlin was the high point of... MORE

President Vladimir Putin yesterday gave a wide-ranging interview to Russian and German media on the eve of his visit to Germany. The Russian head of state touched on a number of domestic and foreign policy issues. Chief among the former was the issue of press... MORE

In his interview yesterday with German and Russian media, President Vladimir Putin also sought, as he has done in the past, to portray Russia's military operation in Chechnya as part of the overall fight against international terrorism. "We must understand that we are dealing with... MORE

The Bush administration's move, at the end of 2001, to suspend Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act has enabled the United States to enter into military assistance agreements with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The decade-old Section 907, originally passed by the U.S. Congress to show... MORE

In the last week of March, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Eurasia Policy Mira Ricardel led a delegation to Baku on an unprecedented mission. For the first time since Azerbaijan became independent, and after eight years of pro-Western foreign policy, the country was... MORE

Iraqi authorities issued a blunt warning to Russian lawmakers earlier this week that Moscow would pay a steep economic price if it chose to go along with a U.S. plan to recast the UN sanctions regime on Iraq. The warning was issued in Baghdad on... MORE

Radio Liberty, the U.S. government-funded radio station, began broadcasting in three North Caucasus languages, Chechen, Avar and Circassian, on April 3. In late February, the station's parent company, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, decided to delay the broadcasts for about a month at the request of... MORE

Acting on President Vladimir Putin's cue, the Russian government and dependent institutions are speaking out in defense of Moldova's beleaguered Communist regime. This stance forms part of the Kremlin's broader strategy of relying on Sovietophile forces, in hopes of creating a pro-Russian bloc in east-central... MORE

Some six weeks after he abruptly canceled an earlier official visit to Moscow, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi was scheduled today to begin two days of talks in the Russian capital. The visit is a politically sensitive one for Moscow, coming against a background of... MORE