Russiandeputies in the Duma Defense Committee were surprised that 100percent of the Russian military commanders who have appeared beforethem support ratification of the START--II treaty, Russian televisionreported July 15. Northern Fleet Unable to Dispose of Nuclear Wastes Safely.

In the past, the Russian authorities simply dumped nuclearwaste into the ocean; now that they are committed to more environmentallysound rules, they lack the money to follow them, officials inRussia's Northern Fleet told Krasnaya zvezda July 13. Existingdumps are full, the twice a year secure... MORE

Regional leadersin Russia, Ukraine and Belarus told Kommersant-Daily July14 that they were able to work together directly far better thantheir national governments seemed to be. CIS Ministry Workers Given Pay Raise.

Whatever their failings,officials at the Russian Ministry for Cooperation with CIS MemberStates will receive a pay raise of almost 100 percent, Moskovskykomsomolets reported July 14. One CIS worker who seems tohave already received a wage is CIS Executive Secretary Ivan Korotocheniya.According to a July 15... MORE

On July 17, Russianforeign minister Andrei Kozyrev is to meet senior officials of the European Union to discuss a trade pact with that body, andwith other officials at NATO headquarters to discuss Russia's"special relationship" with the Western defense alliance,Russian radio reported. Both sessions will take... MORE

The Constitutional Court continuedto hear testimony July 14 on the legality of Boris Yeltsin's orderto intervene in Chechnya, Russian media reported. Among the highpoints were a report by Federation Council deputy Issa Kostoyevthat he had a copy of a decree that would have led to... MORE

At a "semi-legal" meetingin Kiev, representatives of officers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus,Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan noted that military officers have seentheir standard of living drop from 75 to 80 percent since thecollapse of the Soviet Union, Vseukrainskiye vedomosti reportedJune 29. The group which will have its... MORE

In his openingspeech of the election campaign--Yeltsin on July 14 signed thedecree setting the elections for December 12--Prime Minister ViktorChernomyrdin told an audience in Irkutsk that his "Russiais Our Home" political bloc would do everything it couldto prevent a victory by right wing extremists in... MORE

Retired Lt.Gen. Aleksandr Lebed leads the latest presidentialpreference poll with 9 percent of all Russians saying they wouldvote for him, Russian radio reported July 14. Grigoriy Yavlinskystands at 7 percent, and Yeltsin has fallen from 3 to 2 percentin the last month. One Russian in... MORE

In what may be a breakthrough, or possibly only a negotiatingploy, a Russian deputy foreign minister said that Moscow doesnot rule out the possibility that pipelines from Central Asiaand Azerbaijan to the West could pass through countries otherthan Russia, Interfax reported July 16. Albert Chernyshov... MORE