government spokesmen, on and off the record, have said that U.S. President Bill Clinton will, during today's scheduled Oslo meeting, push Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hard to end the military campaign in Chechnya and to begin negotiations. Russian government sources have told Russian news... MORE

Reports out of Oslo yesterday suggested that U.S. President Bill Clinton intends to use a meeting today with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to more forcefully emphasize Washington's concerns over Russian military operations in Chechnya. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters that Clinton will... MORE

The October 27 assassination of top Armenian leaders by a terrorist group (see the Monitor, October 28) was hardly a bolt out of the blue in that country. On the contrary, it caps a series of high-profile terrorist murders which were linked to the shadow... MORE

Georgia's parliamentary elections, which were held on October 31, represent a decisive crossroads in the country's post-Soviet history. The outcome will also affect the destinies of countries situated in the broad arc from the eastern Caspian to Ukraine. The elections pose a stark choice between... MORE

While Russian officialdom seems to maintain a united propaganda front in defending the military action in Chechnya, cracks are appearing in the Russian media's coverage of the conflict. Yesterday, for example, NTV television placed a large question mark over Putin's claim that the Russian armed... MORE

Russian officials, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, have again put Moscow's credibility on the line in regard to the conflict in Chechnya. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on October 30 that the Russian air force had bombed a convoy of trucks carrying... MORE

Annan's initiative last week is part of a broader Western effort aimed at bringing humanitarian aid to Chechen refugees in Ingushetia and Dagestan while simultaneously increasing pressure on Russian leaders to move from the war room to the negotiating table in order to resolve the... MORE

There appeared to be more than a little confusion in Moscow late last week--and perhaps a bit in New York as well--in the wake of revelations that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was pushing to send a UN humanitarian aid team to the Russian Caucasus.... MORE

Two weeks ago, the government of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma launched a nationwide preparation of the presidential election referendum. The election will be held this weekend, on October 31. It is planned that the plebiscite will be on three major issues: cancellation of the deputy... MORE

Ukraine is holding the first round of its presidential election on October 31. The Kaniv Four alliance of candidates, who hoped with joint efforts to defeat the incumbent Leonid Kuchma, collapsed five days before the election date. The alliance of the Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz,... MORE