Since the start of Moscow's negotiations with the London Club in September, Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and other government officials have often claimed that an agreement to restructure Russia's London Club debt would be concluded by the end of this year. And despite the two... MORE

Russia's negotiations over the restructuring of its Soviet-era debt owed to the London Club of commercial creditors recessed on December 2 without the two sides having reached an agreement. In failing to make US$963 million in principal and interest payments which had been due on... MORE

Russia President Boris Yeltsin and Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a treaty today forming a confederal Russian-Belarusan state. The relevant documents were signed during a meeting in the Kremlin of the Supreme Council of the Russian-Belarusan Union. Yeltsin was quoted as calling the agreement of... MORE

It does not seem that the international community's negative reaction to the Kremlin's ultimatum to Chechen fighters in the Chechen capital of Djohar is having much immediate effect on the Kremlin's plans. The condemnation is not baseless, given that Moscow seems to be carrying out... MORE

For domestic political reasons, Russian politicians have thus far been more than happy to exploit widespread anti-Western sentiment in Russia by thumbing their noses at European and U.S. criticism of Moscow's war effort in Chechnya. However, in political terms at least, Moscow may have a... MORE

Russia faced a new cavalcade of Western criticism yesterday following Monday's ultimatum in which Chechen civilians were warned to evacuate Djohar by Saturday of this week (December 11) or face annihilation. It seemed unlikely, however, that the Western condemnations would have any impact on Russian... MORE

Russia's political rivals are making common cause in a last-ditch effort to frustrate the American-backed Trans-Caspian Pipeline project, designed to bring Turkmenistan's enormous gas reserves directly to international markets. On December 3, the Duma voted 345-5 to approve a government package of tax breaks and... MORE

Last week, the Central Election Commission (CEC) gave ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his followers until December 4 to decide which list of candidates to put forward for the December 19 State Duma elections. The choice was between the candidates of Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party... MORE

Yesterday the commanders of the military operation in Chechnya gave an ultimatum to the Chechen fighters located in Djohar, the capital of the breakaway republic, to give up by Saturday, December 11. The federal forces have opened a corridor for both civilians and "repentant" fighters... MORE

Yeltsin's schedule will, however, permit him to travel to Bethlehem on the West Bank on January 6-7 to mark the Orthodox Christmas and the start of the third Christian millennium, the Kremlin said yesterday (Reuters, Itar-Tass, December 6). No other details of that trip were... MORE