Even as Western countries are finally undertaking serious efforts to free Moldova from Russian troops, some close associates of President Petru Lucinschi seem to be working at cross-purposes with both that policy and their country's interests. In recent days, the president's Republic Movement has proposed... MORE

Relations between Russia and the United States, seen by many to be on the upswing since Vladimir Putin's ascent to the Russian presidency, took a fresh hit yesterday following the arrest of a U.S. citizen on espionage charges. Little information was immediately available on the... MORE

Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko announced yesterday that she was dropping out of the race for St. Petersburg's governor, where elections are scheduled for May 14. President-elect Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, made an unexpected stop-over in St. Petersburg, during which he held talks with incumbent Governor... MORE

Valentina Matvienko's withdrawal from the St. Petersburg governor's race, and Putin's de facto endorsement of the front-runner, incumbent Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, have broader political implications. First, both events again demonstrated where the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS), stands in the political food chain. SPS leaders--including... MORE

Inflation performance in 1999 is probably one of the best indicators of the sustainability of economic growth in 2000. Countries with high or rapidly rising rates of inflation--a prime indicator of macroeconomic policy coherence--have lost the confidence of both domestic investors and consumers. Such economies... MORE

On April 5 the CIS Joint Air Defense System held a command-and-staff exercise under the overall supervision of General Anatoly Kornukov, commander in chief of Russia's air force. From headquarters in Moscow, Lieutenant-General Yuri Bondarev directed the exercise in his dual capacity as Russian Air... MORE

On March 29, Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry notified Georgia that the Russian side is prepared immediately to hold negotiations on two sets of military issues: implementation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation summit's resolutions regarding Russian forces in Georgia and, coupled with that, issues... MORE

The Russian armed forces' annual spring draft began this week (one is also held annually in the autumn), and government sources say that military authorities intend to call up into service nearly 192,000 young men. The draft had emerged in the late 1980s as a... MORE

On March 26, the same day as the Russian presidential election, gubernatorial elections were held in seven of the country's eighty-nine regions ("federal subjects"). Governors were elected in Altai Krai; Kirov, Murmansk and Saratov Oblasts; the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts; and the Jewish Autonomous... MORE

Alongside these gubernatorial races, voters in the Udmurt Republic took part on March 26 in a referendum on whether local law should be brought into line with federal law by introducing a presidency like those in Russia's other ethnically based republics (Dagestan excepted). Until now,... MORE