The chairman of the Russian Duma's local government committee told Rossiya (no. 14) that he backed giving autonomy to a small ethnic group in Pskov oblast. The Sets should have their own schools and other linguistic institutions, Anatoli Sliva said. That could bring Moscow and... MORE

Lithuanian and Russian delegations met in Kaliningrad last week to discuss the $70,000 Vilnius says Moscow owes for overflying Lithuanian territory, BNS reported June 1. No progress was made. Will the Black Sea Fleet Leave Crimea?

Ukrainian defense officials said that Kiev might be forced to declare the Black Sea Fleet a foreign force, and thus to ask the fleet to leave the Crimea, unless Russia and Ukraine can agree on its disposition, Kiev radio reported June 2. This report came... MORE

Despite parliamentary opposition and growing concerns that any vote could split the country, President Leonid Kuchma pledged that he would go through with plans to hold a referendum on his and the parliament's stewardship June 28, Kiev radio reported June 3. One Moscow paper--Kommersant-Daily on... MORE

If the Belarusian parliament lowers its quorum requirement, representatives of the communists and the agrarians will occupy almost half of the seats in that body, Segodnya reported June 2. In that event, the paper said, there would be no support for President Aleksandr Lukashenko's reforms... MORE

Some 300 representatives of businesses from the CIS, the Baltic States, and Eastern Europe met in Kishinev at the end of last week to discuss improving business ties, Delovoy mir reported June 2. During the meetings--which were addressed by Moldovan president Mircea Snegur--Moldova and Russia... MORE

Yerevan will not boycott the next round of OSCE-sponsored talks on Karabakh in Helsinki June 15 because Baku has denounced an attack on the pipeline carrying gas to Armenia, Itar-Tass said June 3. More Deaths in Tajikistan.

A Russian border guard, two government soldiers, and seven opposition fighters died in renewed clashes in Tajikistan over the weekend, Itar-Tass and Interfax reported June 3-4. The new fighting underscores how little the agreements reached at Alma-Ata last week mean on the ground.

Differences between Moscow and Kiev over the fate of the Black Sea Fleet have spawned their own grim humor. The May 25 Pravda Ukrainy featured the following anecdote: Ukrainian defense minister Shmarov reports to President Kuchma, who is shocked by Shmarov's condition. "What happened to... MORE

Clashes between the Russian army and Chechen forces expanded across the republic June 1, with mounting death tolls on both sides, Interfax reported. Itar-Tass said that there were at least 50 Russian dead in one local hospital. Russian commanders said that the Chechens had suffered... MORE