In the continuing geopolitical game concerning possible pipeline routes out of Central Asia and Azerbaijan, Moscow has said that it will double the amount of natural gas it currently sells to Turkey, Moscow television reported May 9. The television station said that Russian Prime Minister... MORE

After four hours of meetings May 10, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin failed to make serious progress on the three key issues under discussion: Moscow's plans to sell nuclear equipment to Iran, NATO expansion, and the war in Chechnya. Yeltsin did say that Moscow would not... MORE

In his prepared statement, Yeltsin reiterated that Chechnya was an "internal matter," but he claimed Russia was being forthcoming by allowing observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to visit the region. Once again, he tried to link Russia's experience in Chechnya... MORE

Welcoming Yeltsin's renewed willingness to join NATO's Partnership for Peace program, Clinton said that the two sides had failed to reach an agreement on NATO expansion. But he promised the Russian president that NATO expansion would take place only if it advanced the interests of... MORE

Yeltsin said that Clinton had told him that Russia would have "three times as many opportunities" at the upcoming Halifax G-7 meeting as it did at Naples. As a result, the Russian president concluded, that organization is already the "G-7 and 1/2" and will quickly... MORE

Perhaps the most important aspect of the press conference was the difference in tone between the two sides, with Yeltsin adopting a harsher tone and Clinton seeking to retain the "partnership" language of the past two years even as relations between the two countries cool.... MORE

In response to a question, President Clinton said that the US was pleased with the "remarkable amount of progress" the Ukrainian government had made in economic reform over the last year. He praised Kiev for its "balance and discipline" in that sphere but significantly said... MORE

With these words, Russian President Yeltsin welcomed the more than 50 world leaders at a banquet in their honor May 9. Earlier President Clinton said that the Cold War had "obscured our ability" to understand Russian sacrifices in World War II, but at the dinner... MORE

In a speech to the military parade at Poklonnaya hill May 9, Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev said that the "menace of local conflicts" in the post-Cold War environment requires that the Russian military be modernized and expanded. US Reporters Blocked From Attending Parade.

Russian militiamen prevented several American journalists from attending the Red Square parade because the latter had forged passes on a color copier machine, Itar-Tass reported May 10. The news agency somewhat sympathetically reported that the Americans had done so because the Russian Foreign Ministry had... MORE