With international attention focusing in recent days on Russian President Vladimir Putin's visits to both Beijing and Pyongyang, Moscow has found itself fending off rumors regarding alleged problems in relations with another of its key Asian partners--India. In a report published on July 16, the... MORE

The authorities yesterday stepped up their campaign against Media-Most chief Vladimir Gusinsky, when the Prosecutor General's Office "arrested" the media tycoon's personal property, including his home in Chigasovo, just outside of Moscow. Investigators from the federal prosecutor's office and the Federal Security Service (FSB) spent... MORE

Russian observers remain split over whether the moves against Vladimir Gusinsky, Vladimir Potanin and the other oligarchs are being dictated by those holding "sway" over the Kremlin. By this meaning two groups. First, the "Family"--those Yeltsin-era Kremlin insiders among which are or have been the... MORE

The two top pro-Moscow Chechens are on the verge of going to war with one another. Akhmad Kadyrov, head of Chechnya's administration, has denounced the activities of Bislan Gantemirov, his recently appointed first deputy, as constituting and "armed rebellion directed at the president of Russia... MORE

Russian and Chinese leaders officially launched a "post-Yeltsin" era in bilateral relations yesterday, as President Vladimir Putin held summit talks in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, President Jiang Zemin. For Putin, the visit was his first to the Chinese capital since being inaugurated president this... MORE

Yesterday's summit accomplishments notwithstanding, various commentators have continued to insist that the Russian-Chinese "strategic partnership" remains limited at best, or, in the words of a BBC report, a "shallow alliance" (BBC, July 18). This is in part because it is centered far more on negatives... MORE

On July 17, after a week of haggling, the conciliation commission set up to reconcile differences between the upper and lower houses of the Russian parliament reached agreement on President Vladimir Putin's controversial plan to reform the Federation Council. The commission was formed after the... MORE

On July 14 in Vienna, the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reviewed Russia's performance in complying with OSCE decisions on a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia. Those decisions, taken at the OSCE's summit in Istanbul in... MORE

In three stages--on July 5-7 in Astana, July 13-14 in Baku and July 17-18 in Ashgabat--Russian presidential envoy and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny has presented a set of proposals regarding the legal status of the Caspian Sea and access to its resources. Kalyuzhny,... MORE

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) on June 30 released balance-of-payments data for the first quarter of 2000. They show that Russia is heading for a record current account surplus in 2000, thanks to booming exports, slow growth in imports--and very little debt servicing. Russia's... MORE