Russian President Boris Yeltsin's appearance two days ago at the June 20 Group of Seven summit in Cologne appeared to mark a turning point in efforts by both Russia and the West to repair relations torn asunder during the alliance's eleven-week air campaign against Yugoslavia.... MORE

On June 18, four MiG-29 interceptor aircraft arrived in Yerevan from Russia, bringing to a reported sixteen the number of such jets deployed by Russian forces in Armenia. Welcoming the planes on landing, Armenia's Defense Minister and Lieutenant-General Vagharshak Harutiunian intimated to those present that... MORE

On June 18, four MiG-29 planes overflew Georgia without permission for approximately forty minutes and ignored Georgian signals from the ground. Reporting the incident, Georgia's Deputy Defense Minister Grigol Katamadze observed that it "not the first gross violation" of Georgia's airspace and of international law... MORE

Those Ukrainian center-right politicians (routinely called "national democrats") who refused to back President Leonid Kuchma's second presidential bid have so far failed to overcome their policy differences and personal ambitions to come up with a strong alternative candidate for the upcoming October elections. They have... MORE

During the night of June 17, through the early hours of the following morning, Chechen fighters not under the control of the authorities in Djohar carried out attacks on checkpoints manned by Russian Interior Ministry troops located in Dagestan's border regions with Chechnya. Earlier in... MORE

In her first statements to the country following her unexpected election as president of Latvia, the little-known Vaira Vike-Freiberga (see profile in the Monitor, June 18) outlined her policy priorities. She named accession to the European Union and to NATO as the uppermost objectives in... MORE

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is again complaining of Kremlin harassment. On June 19, he was to fly by helicopter over Moscow Oblast, just outside the capital, together with Moscow Oblast Governor Anatoly Tyzhlov, to inspect how the growing season was going for the potatoes, carrots,... MORE

The dire state of Russia's prisons was again underscored last week, when UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson declared that conditions in Russian prisons constitute torture. Some rich prisoners, meanwhile, are reportedly getting special treatment--for a large fee, of course. On June 16... MORE

During Yeltsin's meeting with G-7 leaders yesterday in Germany, both sides made a conscious effort to put the Kosovo conflict behind them and to move on to the business of repairing relations. That sentiment was especially pronounced in Yeltsin's separate, bilateral talks with German Chancellor... MORE

What Moscow did not get was its own sector in Kosovo, and especially not one in the northern part of the province. NATO had argued that an independent Russian presence of that sort could lead to the partition of Kosovo. That was especially true, NATO... MORE