Swiss authorities have reportedly issued an international warrant for the arrest of Pavel Borodin, who headed the Kremlin's "property management" department under former President Boris Yeltsin. Earlier this month, Acting President Vladimir Putin removed Borodin as Kremlin property manager, but this week (on January 25)... MORE

The Swiss and Russian law enforcement authorities are not only zeroing in on Pavel Borodin, the long-time associate of Boris Yeltsin who until recently controlled the Kremlin's property department. Another more well-known member of the Kremlin "Family," as Yeltsin's inner circle became known last year,... MORE

Compartmentalizing a multilateral summit into bilateral meetings--a decided innovation--marked this week's first gathering of presidents of CIS countries under Vladimir Putin in Moscow (see the Monitor, January 26). Russia's acting and prospective president arranged bilateral meetings between himself and each head of state, as well... MORE

No one could realistically have expected the treaty on the CIS-wide free trade zone (FTZ) to take effect on January 1, as originally scheduled. On January 25, however, the would-be FTZ took a potentially decisive hit. Motivated by protectionist interests and fiscal considerations, Russia at... MORE

Russia's diplomats have focused in recent weeks primarily on the West, and particularly on blunting the negative consequences of Russia's differences with both Europe and the United States over Moscow's bloody crackdown in Chechnya. Indeed, that effort was expected to take center stage today, when... MORE

But while Putin's gesture may be appreciated in Tokyo, the manner in which he and Japanese officials choose to approach the territorial dispute will have far more to do with the success of the peace treaty negotiations. Indeed, there seems to be some confusion on... MORE

It is beyond obvious that the Russian army, despite the Kremlin's expectations, will not be able to capture the Chechen capital in the near future, and that the protracted campaign to take Djohar could derail the entire Chechen military campaign. According to Radio Liberty's correspondent... MORE

Radio Liberty confirmed yesterday that one of its reporters, Andrei Babitsky, is missing. Earlier this month, Babitsky told the station's Moscow bureau that he was planning to leave the Chechen capital of Djohar on foot. Neither his wife nor his colleagues have heard from him... MORE

Armenia is looking warily at the initiative for a South Caucasus regional stability pact, recently launched by Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan (see the Monitor, January 18; the Fortnight in Review, January 21). Foreign Affairs Ministry chief spokesman Ara Papian and Prime Minister Aram Sarkisian stated... MORE

Russia and Europe appear to be headed for a showdown of sorts tomorrow following a decision by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) to consider suspending Moscow's membership in PACE as punishment for the Russian government's failure to end its bloody war in Chechnya.... MORE