The diplomatic cacophony over Chechnya intensified this past weekend as continued Western criticism of Russia's military campaign in the North Caucasus elicited fresh rebuffs from a still-defiant Moscow. The ongoing war of words was carried out on a number of different fronts: from a telephone... MORE

The November 5 approval of the 2000 budget by Kazakhstan's parliament (Majlis) has important implications for Kazakhstan's fiscal balance this year and next (Reuters, November 5). The budget's passage is likely to lead to the finalization of a three-year US$350-400 million IMF standby agreement, which... MORE

An attempt by the Russian aluminum industry to acquire control over a key Ukrainian metallurgical firm and avoid Ukrainian law in the process has failed. But though the acquisition of Mykolayivskyy Hlynozemnyy Zavod (NGZ) by Russia's Sibirskii aluminum group may have been frustrated, the authorities... MORE

On November 5, two ex-Soviet strategic bombers--a Tu-160 "Blackjack" supersonic bomber and a turbo-prop Tu-95MS missile carrier--flew from Ukraine to the Long-Range Aviation base at Engels, near Saratov. They were the first installment in a deal which will bring to Russia a total of eight... MORE

Russian politicians and observers are clearly unhappy with the November 9 announcement by International Monetary Fund Director Michel Camdessus that he plans to leave his post in February of next year. Camdessus is widely seen in Russia as having been very pro-Russian--meaning that for most... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced on November 9 that Moscow plans to take a number of steps aimed at intercepting aid to Chechen fighters from abroad. It intends to radically strengthen checks on passage across the Russian-Georgian and Russian-Azerbaijani borders. A number of commercial... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has signed a decree pardoning the former mayor of Djohar, Bislan Gantemirov, who last held that post in 1995-1996, when the city was occupied by Russian troops. Gantemirov told NTV television that he is ready to help the federal authorities in their... MORE

In their most recent remarks, both U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Walter Slocombe and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were attempting not only to break the diplomatic logjam with Moscow over the ABM treaty, but also to counter broader international uneasiness over what is... MORE

The long and already acrimonious war of words between Russia and the United States over the ABM treaty and ballistic missile defense has heated up even further over the past week, as positions on both sides appear to have hardened. The latest round of exchanges... MORE

The Communist Party (CP) and the Popular Front (PF) have jointly torpedoed Moldova's economic reform program and external financing and brought down the country's reformist government. The Communists hold forty seats and the Popular Front--which styles itself as right-wing--nine seats in the 101-seat parliament. These... MORE