While Acting President Vladimir Putin's popularity rating remains high, and his victory in the March 26 presidential election still seems assured, a growing number of media and politicians have begun criticizing the actions of his government. This has been most apparent in media coverage of... MORE

An economic downturn (see the Monitor, January 10) and the controversy over the privatization of the country's oil sector by an American company are severely complicating Lithuania's politics in this election year. The main governing party, Fatherland Union/Lithuanian Conservatives (FU/LC), which has since 1996 spearheaded... MORE

Acting President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he is certain that those responsible for blowing up apartment buildings in Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk last fall had received instruction at a terrorist training camp in Urus-Martan, Chechnya. Putin's comments were clearly a reaction to a report... MORE

Perhaps the most significant step which Acting President Vladimir Putin took yesterday was to remove Pavel Borodin, the head of the Kremlin's "property management" department. Borodin, a long-time Yeltsin associate, has been the focus of allegations that top Kremlin officials received kickbacks from the Swiss... MORE

Acting President Vladimir Putin moved yesterday to consolidate his position by shaking up his cabinet and getting rid of one of the more controversial figures connected to Boris Yeltsin's administration. Nikolai Aksenenko was demoted from the post of first deputy prime minister but retains his... MORE

For Russia, the possible consequences of such a development are obvious. The ability to provide Syria with advanced military hardware is one of the few cards which Moscow is able to play in its effort to increase Russian influence in Damascus--and, by extension, throughout the... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin's visit last week to the Holy Lands (see the Monitor, January 10) reflected in part Moscow's intense desire to reestablish itself as a player in the Middle East peace process. Yet the absence of any real Russian contribution to--or presence at--the... MORE

As anticipated, the military rivals of President Robert Kocharian are now moving to deprive the president of his control of Armenian National Television (ANTV), one of Kocharian's few remaining bastions (see the Monitor, November 17). The Chief Military Prosecutor's Office had Harutiun Harutiunian, deputy director... MORE

The 2000 budget, which was approved by the Lithuanian parliament on December 23, promises to bring the consolidated fiscal deficit including the SODRA balance down to 2.8 percent of GDP, from above 9.0 percent in 1999. This would meet a key condition set by the... MORE

Lithuania's fiscal problems are exacerbated by the fact that the country remains mired in the recession which began in late 1998 on the heels of Russia's August 17 financial crisis. Lithuania's GDP dropped by 5.0 percent during the third quarter of 1999, a steeper descent... MORE