A leading Russian daily newspaper claimed today that it had gotten hold of a plan for keeping Yeltsin in power after 2000: unifying Russia with Belarus and turning the Russian Federation into something resembling a confederation. "Today in the Kremlin they might be thinking: The... MORE

While some of the reporting concerning The Family has clearly not been motivated solely by journalistic considerations, it is also clear that the Kremlin is taking direct control of the main levers of state financial power. This state of affairs seems to suit some, including... MORE

Russian media have claimed that a clique of Kremlin insiders consisting of Dyachenko, Berezovsky, Voloshin, Yumashev and Sibneft oil chief Roman Abramovich has grabbed most of the country's politically and financially important posts. The press has begun referring to the group as the "mini-Politburo" or... MORE

Boris Berezovsky has denied the rumors which have continued to circulate in the press that he played a major behind-the-scenes role in selecting members of Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin's cabinet. In a press conference in Moscow today, the controversial tycoon and former Commonwealth of Independent... MORE

Sergeev gave no indication that Moscow had acquiesced to this alleged last-minute pressure. But the possibility that Chernomyrdin may have made some unexpected concessions was suggested not only by reports of yesterday's final agreement, but also by rumblings which were said to have emerged from... MORE

There were, of course, signs of several enduring disagreements with Moscow following yesterday's talks in Belgrade. The text of the peace plan, for example, reportedly contains a footnote signaling that Russia and NATO must still iron out differences over the command structure for the international... MORE

Western governments gave guarded welcome yesterday to the announcement that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had agreed to a Kosovo peace settlement. Milosevic's approval came during a meeting in Belgrade with the two special envoys who had been dispatched to present the West's demands--former Russian Prime... MORE

Ukrainian Speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko, recently nominated for president, has apparently launched a serious offensive against the government of his major rival, President Leonid Kuchma, in an attempt to shatter his team and spoil his campaign. Tkachenko is coordinating his moves with those of another hardline... MORE

Four founding leaders of Ukraine's Hromada Union have officially announced their decision to quit that party, which is still chaired by fugitive former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. The four--Yulia Tymoshenko, Oleh Bilorus, Oleksandr Turchynov and Dmytro Hnatyuk--charged in a joint statement that the party had... MORE

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on June 1 that it had detained a Latvian national in the Pskov Region and opened a criminal investigation against him on charges of espionage. The FSB and an orchestrated television reportage named the man but stopped short of... MORE