Russia´s specialenvoy for the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, Nikolai Medvedev,told Interfax July 26 that Moscow wants Georgian president EduardShevardnadze to allow representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetiato participate in the drafting of Georgia´s new federal constitution.While obliquely admitting that the two regions want more thanfederal status--they... MORE

Kazakhdeputy foreign minister Vyacheslav Gizzatov told Interfax July26 that Almaty wants the early adoption of an international conventiondividing the Caspian Sea into national sectors. Gizzatov disputedMoscow´s contention that the 1921 and 1940 Russian-Iranianagreements legalize "joint use" of Caspian resources,noting that those agreements only refer to... MORE

In response to local protests, Russian troopsin Moldova's Transdniester region have stopped detonating surplusammunition from their main stockpiles near Ribnita, Moldovan agenciesreported July 26. Russia had planned to blow up 300 kilogramsof old ammunition daily, but local officials have agreed to thedetonation of only 30... MORE

One of the three Gagauz"republican guard" units has refused to turn over itsweapons to Moldovan authorities as required by the agreement settingup an autonomous Gagauzia within Moldova. This recalcitrant groupearlier has attacked Moldovan officials in the region. In additionto the weapons this group possesses, other... MORE

Estonianand Russian negotiators failed to make any significant progressin resolving the dispute between their two countries on the borderissue, BNS reported July 26. The two sides did agree to meet againon a regular basis and said they hoped they could reach an agreementon crossborder cooperation... MORE

Ukrainianpresident Leonid Kuchma told Kiev media July 26 that Ukraine wantsan increase in the size of the UNPROFOR contingent in Bosnia andwould not object to NATO forces being used in this way. Kuchmasaid that Kiev's participation in the London meeting of the internationalcontact group on... MORE

Ukrainianpresident Leonid Kuchma said that he would not bow to the demandsof a group in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and order the reburialof Patriach Volodymyr in Kiev's St. Sophia cathedral, Ukrainianmedia reported July 26. Such an order would discredit the Ukrainianstate in the eyes of... MORE

The defenseministers of Ukraine and Moldova, Valerii Shmarov and Pavel Creanga,have agreed to train Moldovan officers in Ukrainian militaryacademies, and to exchange military information, Basapress andFlux reported July 26. The ministers also discussed the possibletransit of military trains carrying the Russian arsenal from Moldovato Russia... MORE

TheRussian ambassadors in all three Baltic countries told IzvestiyaJuly 25 that putting pressure on the Balts, and making threatsagainst them, are counterproductive. The paper suggested, however,that the Baltic governments were drawing Moscow's wrath by theirown behavior: "The policy of the Baltic states toward Russiais a... MORE

Nearly half of all Russians--45percent--believe that a civil war is likely in their country,24 percent consider that unlikely, and 17 percent believe it hasalready begun, according to a poll reported in the July 25 VechernyayaMoskva. Echoing these concerns, Federation Council securitycommittee chairman Petr Shirshov told... MORE