The process of creating a union between Russian and Belarus is moving forward quickly. A meeting yesterday of the Russia-Belarus Union Treaty's Executive Council was attended by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Belarus Prime Minister Sergei Ling. After the meeting, Putin, who is the Executive... MORE

While the sharp rise in world oil prices should boost Russia's economy and federal budget, it may instead accelerate even further the country's massive capital flight. According to a report issued by the Russian Finance Ministry's Economic Expert Group, US$2.9 billion is now leaving Russia... MORE

Russia's last-minute attempt to rewrite the terms of the oil-for-food program could very well be the result of increased pressure which Baghdad has exerted on the Russian government. Although Moscow has been Iraq's foremost supporter on the Security Council, Iraqi leaders have complained in recent... MORE

An unexpected Russian effort to rewrite the terms of the Iraq-UN "oil-for-food" program appears to be at the heart of the UN Security Council's latest confrontation over policy toward Baghdad. The Russian move has reportedly left Moscow isolated. It comes amid a newly intensified attempt... MORE

The Georgians by and large attained their objectives at the OSCE summit owing to unprecedentedly firm Western support in the endgame negotiations. The Russian side agreed to: (1) withdraw the Russian troops from the Vaziani air base and the Gudauta airborne force base, closing those... MORE

President Petru Lucinschi announced a "great victory of the Moldovan people" on his return home from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Istanbul. In a meeting with Lucinschi on November 18, Russian President Boris Yeltsin agreed that Russia would complete... MORE

Despite strong criticism of the Chechen campaign from many quarters in the West, it still appears to be helping Prime Minister Vladimir Putin domestically. Zerkalo, the weekly news analysis program on RTR state television, yesterday presented the results of a poll recently taken by the... MORE

It would appear that the Istanbul summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was a smashing success for the Kremlin, and Moscow now plans to solve the Chechen problem without any consideration of civilian victims. Over the weekend, the Russian forces... MORE

In signing the Charter for European Security at last week's Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Istanbul, Russia committed itself to observing that organization's efforts to strengthen respect for human rights by OSCE member governments. The most obvious example of a... MORE

While most of the CIS economies were reporting GDP growth at mid-year, Kazakhstan did not. Its GDP fell 3.3 percent during the first half of the year, with industrial output down 4.1 percent, investment off 6 percent and exports to other CIS countries down a... MORE