On the last day of his state visit to Finland,Estonian president Lennart Meri urged Finland to join Estonia in seeking tosupport the numerous small Finno-Ugric peoples of Siberia and the Russian north,BNS reported May 19. Moscow has complained in the past about the efforts ofHungary,... MORE

On May 19, the Dumaunanimously adopted resolutions directing a Duma committee to draw uplegislation on the unification of Russia and Belarus, and praising Belarusianpresident Aleksandr Lukashenko for holding the May 14 referendum thathighlighted Belarusian interest in such unity, Moscow radio reported. Nationalistleader Sergei Baburin pushed... MORE

At a demonstration in Simferopol on theanniversary of their deportation by Stalin, thousands of Crimean Tatars carriedsigns and banners blaming Moscow for their current problems and arguing thatKiev is the only friend the Crimean Tatars have, Russian television reported May18. "Some Progress" At Armenian-Azerbaijani Talks.

For the firsttime, the OSCE-sponsored talks on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict made"some progress," all sides told Moscow media May 18. Speaking at the conclusionof the latest round held in Moscow last week, the Armenian representative saidthat "for the first time," the two sides had actually discussed... MORE

For the first time since 1957, the headof the Armenian church visited Karabakh, the Armenian news service reported.Catholicos Garegin I arrived in Stepanakert May 19 for a three-day stay. His visitunderscores Baku's lack of control in the region, and will further inflameAzerbaijani passions. Armenian President... MORE

In response to a risingtide of criticism for his closing of a Russian-language paper, for the death of aninmate, and for his criticism of the Dashnaksutyun nationalist party, ArmenianPresident Levon Ter-Petrosyan attacked his critics in a speech to parliament,Noyan tapan news agency reported May 19.... MORE

Three days of discussions between Tajikpresident Imammali Rakhmonov and opposition leader Abdullo Nuri concludedwith an agreement to extend the cease-fire, and for another meeting this week inAlma-Ata, Interfax reported May 21. Despite this progress, the two sidesacknowledged that they remained far apart. Meanwhile, sporadic fightingcontinued... MORE

Facing charges that he had failed to seizeChechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev when the latter was flying in an airplane lastyear, Sergei Stepashin, the director of the Federal Security Service said he wasnot responsible, Komsomolskaya pravda reported May 5-12. Stepashin said thatthe Anti-Aircraft Forces had that... MORE

On May 19 Russian president Boris Yeltsinvetoed his prime minister's May 18 offer to conduct discussions with theChechens on a roundtable basis with OSCE representation. Russian defenseminister Pavel Grachev had said in Beijing even before the veto wasannounced, that he would meet with Chechen commanders... MORE

Russia's FederalSecurity Service (FSB) will soon have powers that "even the KGB did not dreamof," Kommersant-daily reported May 18. The paper said that the Duma hadgiven preliminary approval May 17 to a bill that would allow the FSB toengage in wiretapping, monitoring of computer nets,... MORE