During his July 15-18 visit to Ukraine (see the Monitor, July 20), Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin offered Russia's cooperation in completing the two unfinished power blocks at the Rivne and Khmelnitskaya nuclear power plants in Ukraine. He stated that it is in the interest... MORE

Three of Ukraine's presidential hopefuls have cautiously disclosed their intentions to join forces in the run-up to the presidential elections scheduled for October 31. These are the Socialist Party leader and former parliamentary chairman, Oleksandr Moroz; the former prime minister and current chief of the... MORE

For the first time since the dissolution of the USSR, Russia's Black Sea Fleet has reasons to celebrate Navy Day--July 25--on a note of less than complete gloom. Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin's recent visit to Ukraine (see the Monitor, July 20) included an inspection... MORE

Some 5,000 supporters of opposition parties demonstrated in Minsk on July 21 to mark the official end of Alyaksandr Lukashenka's presidential mandate and to reject its arbitrary prolongation after July 20 (see the Monitor, July 21). Held under the motto, "an end to dictatorship in... MORE

On July 20, Ingushetian President Ruslan Aushev signed a decree officially permitting polygamy in the republic. Men there are now permitted to have up to four wives--as is permitted under Muslim law. According to Aushev's decree, men in Ingushetia must, as Islam's Sharia law requires,... MORE

The battle between the camp of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the Kremlin continued yesterday, when some 100 demonstrators gathered in downtown Moscow to protest the alleged role Kremlin administration chief Aleksandr Voloshin and the tycoon Boris Berezovsky played in setting up the All Russian... MORE

The clash of perceptions between Russia and NATO over the "lessons" of Kosovo is not merely academic, but is influencing the manner in which Moscow attempts to negotiate its "reconciliation" with NATO. Russian leaders have repeatedly called NATO a criminal organization for its actions in... MORE

Despite all the positive rhetoric which came out of the London talks, it was clear yesterday that British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had failed to find common ground on the question of aid to Yugoslavia. Britain, together with a... MORE

More than three months after NATO airstrikes on Yugoslavia led to a near rupture in their bilateral ties, Russia and Britain looked yesterday to put relations back on track. At the conclusion of a two-day visit to London by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, both... MORE

Comments in recent days by Azerbaijani and Armenian officials shed some light on the confidential talks held last week in Geneva by Presidents Haidar Aliev and Robert Kocharian. The unprecedented, lengthy tete-a-tete meeting explored ways to overcome the impasse in the negotiations toward settling the... MORE