Russian media has continued to speculate--wildly, some would argue--about the influence of The Family--the Kremlin inner circle--over the cabinet and the country in general. One report this week, citing "information from reliable sources," maintains that Stepashin was very close to being fired at the behest... MORE

Moscow is apparently facing a financial crisis, due in part to a sharp drop in foreign investment, and perhaps also in part to the apparent Kremlin attempt to undermine Luzhkov (see the Monitor, June 2, 7). The city may not be able to make its... MORE

Russian media reported yesterday and today that the division of powers and responsibilities within the cabinet of Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin has been completed. According to the press reports, First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Aksenenko will take charge of the cabinet when Stepashin is absent,... MORE

The sparring continues between Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and some of his newly minted opponents--chiefly former Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko. Over the weekend, Kirienko suggested in the strongest terms to date that he will be the candidate of his movement New Force (Novaya Sila) to... MORE

Russia's return to antagonism to the West with regard to the Kosovo settlement was in evidence again yesterday during a meeting in Bonn of foreign ministers from the G-7 countries and Russia. Reports from the German capital made it clear that Moscow was the lone... MORE

Russia's acquiescence to key Western demands for a peace settlement, in turn, helped to compel Milosevic to accept those same demands during Viktor Chernomyrdin's and Martti Ahtisaari's visit to Belgrade on June 2-3. Belgrade appeared to find itself worse off than it had been during... MORE

Belgrade's orchestration of this weekend's failed talks between the Yugoslav and NATO generals appears to have several aims. By delaying the start of Yugoslavia's military withdrawal from Kosovo, Belgrade may be seeking to give its troops time to wreak additional havoc on Kosovo and its... MORE

Western officials were quick to attribute the collapse of yesterday's talks between Yugoslav and NATO generals--which came only days after Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had apparently agreed to the terms of a Western peace agreement--to Milosevic's well-known penchant for using and abusing international agreements to... MORE

For the time being, the CIS, its two economic subgroups and Moscow at the center seem only capable of signing meaningless documents and complicate even further an already chaotic situation in mutual economic relations. The only certainty in those relations is the precipitate drop in... MORE

The prime ministers in the June 4 CIS meeting also signed a set of modified documents on setting up a free trade zone in the CIS by January 2000. That goal is generally shared among CIS countries, because they seek access to the Russian market... MORE