Almost immediately after the Belarusian vote callingfor greater economic integration of Belarus with Russia, Belarusian PrimeMinister Mikhail Chigir announced that Moscow would move the Russian customsborder to the western borders of Belarus. Moscow radio reported May 16 thatthe Belarusians themselves would man the border but... MORE

Although Belarus had the highestrate of inflation in the Commonwealth of Independent States during the firstquarter of 1995--123%--inflation there will not exceed 10% in May, PrimeMinister Chigir said May 16, according to a Belarusian embassy press release.Such a decline, which reflects both stabilization and non-payments... MORE

Commonwealth of Independent States ExecutiveSecretary Ivan Korotcheniya told Itar-Tass May 17 that the Russian andBelarusian presidents would sign a document at the May 26 Minsk meetingestablishing closer ties between the economies of their countries and thatthis document would be open for other CIS countries to... MORE

Journalists in both Moscow andYerevan charged that Armenian authorities had closed the Russian-languagepaper Golos Armenii for political purposes, as part of a broader effort byPresident Ter-Petrosyan to expand his own power by stifling the opposition,the Armenian press reported May 16. Concerns that the opposition may... MORE

At the Alma-Ata meeting on the status of theCaspian Sea, Iranian officials pressed for the construction of pipelines fromAzerbaijan and Central Asia through Iran, Moscow radio reported. The Iranianssaid that this would be the "cheapest way" to get the oil out; and, hoping totake advantage... MORE

Talks between Tajikistan President ImammaliRakhmonov and opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri opened in the Afghancapital May 17, Moscow radio reported. A Man Not On A White Horse.

Russian protocol officials said they weredisturbed by Turkmenistan president Saparmurat Niyazov's plans to presentBoris Yeltsin with a horse during Niyazov's official visit to Moscow thisweek, Itar-Tass said May 17. The Tass news agency reported that no one knewwhether Yeltsin could even ride a horse. Don't... MORE

Tbilisi authorities have established new chargesfor delivering a baby at a state hospital, Krasnaya zvezda said May 16. Nowmothers will have to pay $107 for their hospital stays. While low by Westernstandards, that fee is equal to more than 35 times the average monthly wagein... MORE

Despite Moscow's claims that thesituation was stabilizing and that the major task ahead was reconstruction,Russian artillery, tanks, and bombers continued their attacks throughout thecountry on May 16, Itar-Tass and the Postfactum agency reported. Russianattacks were especially heavy around Serzhen-Yurt, a town that many see asthe... MORE

Boris Yeltsin told his senior cabinet members that"today, there is one issue--how our relationship with Ukraine will develop,"NTV reported May 16. The Russian president said "we cannot let the problemskeep piling up" in the links between the two countries. Foreign ministerAndrei Kozyrev told Interfax that... MORE