President-elect Vladimir Putin won a significant, but not unexpected, political victory on Friday when the lower house of the Russian parliament voted for ratification of the long-delayed START II nuclear arms reduction treaty. The 288 to 131 vote, which came after Putin had appeared unexpectedly... MORE

Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin's twenty-four-hour visit to London--during which he is to meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair, British business leaders and Queen Elizabeth II--appeared over the weekend to be generating considerable controversy in Britain itself. Even before Putin's arrival in the British capital last... MORE

Some top Russian officials indicated last week that the Kremlin may be seeking a political solution to the Chechen conflict. However, as the week came to a close, various officials, including President-elect Vladimir Putin, seemed to pour cold water over the prospects of talks with... MORE

The conflicting reports concerning a political settlement to the Chechen conflict come at a time when even pro-government media are reporting war-weariness among the federal forces. Over the weekend, one of the country's state television channels quoted officers in Chechnya speaking openly of their men... MORE

Vladimir Putin made a political point by stopping in Minsk on his way to London and making Belarus the first country he visited after winning Russia's presidential election. Putin's talks with his counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka on April 16 in Minsk focused on the implementation of... MORE

On April 6, Ukraine's parliament (Verkhovna Rada) approved the economic plan which President Leonid Kuchma outlined in his state of the nation address and Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko's cabinet of ministers drafted into proposed legislation (see the Monitor, March 3). The vote--261 to 103 with... MORE

There are signs that Boris Berezovsky, the infamous "oligarch" and Kremlin insider, is losing his foothold in the corridors of power. The latest indication of this came earlier this week in the North Caucasus republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, where Berezovsky won a seat in the State... MORE

Were Boris Berezovsky to lose his State Duma seat representing the republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, it would also rob him of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution. This is particularly interesting in light of the rumors last weekend that Berezovsky had fled the country ahead of impending... MORE

A retired U.S. naval officer, arrested by Russian authorities on April 4 (see the Monitor, April 6), has been officially charged with espionage. A spokesman for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said yesterday that the American, who has been identified by the U.S. Embassy... MORE

The Kremlin appeared to clear up at least some of the ambiguities about Moscow's current relations with Beijing when the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated yesterday that President-elect Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to China sometime before the July summit of the G-7 countries... MORE