The chairman of the Ukrainianparliament's defense committee said that Kiev was prepared to sell itsstrategic bombers to Moscow at a low price, Kievskie vedomosti reportedMay 16. Vladimir Mulkin said that the TU-160s and TU-95Ms wouldotherwise have to be scrapped, and Ukraine would earn even less... MORE

A Georgian deputy premiertold an Armenian newspaper May 28 that Tbilisi had concluded "there isnot enough gas for us, and we steal yours." According to the Aragilnews service, Deputy Prime Minister Gouloua said Georgia could notafford to pay the new, higher prices for gas, and... MORE

At a meeting of the Georgianconstitutional convention, President Eduard Shevardnadze said thatTbilisi was prepared to federalize the country, Interfax reported May29. He said that Abkhazia and Ajaria would enjoy extensive autonomy,with the central government retaining only such powers as to guaranteeits sovereignty over the country.... MORE

Following the CIS summit which clearlyindicated that all CIS states want progress in the inter-Tajik talks,the two sides meeting in Alma-Ata agreed to exchange lists of prisonersin preparation for a future exchange, Interfax reported May 30. TheTajik opposition unilaterally offered a further extension of thecease-fire--to... MORE

Russia's Federal SecurityService is less democratic than the KGB--at least during meal times,Moskovsky komsomolets reported May 17. While the old KGB had only atwo-tier system of dining rooms--one for the very top elite and one foreveryone else--the new Federal Security Service has four differentdining rooms.... MORE

A major earthquakemeasuring 7.5 on the Richter scale destroyed housing, oil pipelines andoil fields, and killed as many as 2,000 on Russia's far eastern islandof Sakhalin May 27. Initially, local officials denied there was aproblem, Interfax reported, but later reports suggested the full extentof the... MORE

Russian foreign minister AndreiKozyrev denounced the hostage-taking by Bosnian Serbs as "barbarism"but simultaneously criticized NATO's bombing of the Bosnian Serbpositions and called for a lifting of sanctions against Belgrade,Itar-Tass reported May 29. The day before, Yeltsin's press spokesmansaid that the NATO airstrikes had only made... MORE

Russian forces continued theirslow advance into the foothills of southern Chechnya over the weekend,Interfax reported. Reports that Chechens would execute Russian POWswere quickly denied by Chechen leaders, Moscow radio reported May 27.Russian media increasingly have focused on body counts, with largenumbers of Chechens reported dead,... MORE

Although Russian prime ministerViktor Chernomyrdin said that "nobody will stop us from uniting," theCIS summit in Minsk was generally a disappointment to those who wanttighter integration among its 12 member countries. Ten of the 12presidents attended--Shevardnadze arrived at the last moment--sevenagreed to a payments union,... MORE

NATO airstrikes againstBosnian Serbs have once again put in doubt Moscow's willingness to jointhe Partnership for Peace program this week, despite promises byYeltsin to President Clinton and a commitment by Russian foreignminister Andrei Kozyrev in a widely-leaked letter to NATOSecretary-General Willy Claes. Kozyrev, in Holland... MORE