Indeed, it was a bad day all around for Russian officials in their efforts to broker a Kosovo peace deal. Aside from the indictment announcement, yesterday's talks in Moscow apparently concluded without any agreement. The three-way negotiations--which brought together Chernomyrdin, EU special envoy (and Finnish... MORE

Russian political leaders reacted with predictable fury yesterday to the war crimes indictment of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic issued earlier in the day by the UN War Tribunal in The Hague. The Russian Foreign Ministry characterized the indictment as a "purely political" action aimed at... MORE

Pernod Ricard of France, the leading wines and spirits company in the European Union, has acquired the Yerevan Brandy Company (YBC), producer of the famed "Armenian cognac" and an object of national pride in Armenia. Pernod Ricard won the international privatization tender for YBC in... MORE

Thousands of mostly Russian trade union members demonstrated on May 25 in the city of Narva in northeastern Estonia--an area heavily settled by Russians from the interior of the Soviet Union during the occupation period. Billed as the largest demonstration held anywhere in Estonia since... MORE

Lithuania yesterday refused to sign an agreement on cooperation among the electrical power systems of Russia, Belarus and the three Baltic states. Initiated by the Russian side, the framework agreement would have interconnected the five countries' power systems, facilitating and regulating electricity deliveries from Russia... MORE

The commander in chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, completed a visit to China earlier this week during which the major topic of discussion appeared to be the conflict in the Balkans. In addition to meeting his opposite number, Vice Admiral Shi Yongsheng,... MORE

The man who is supposed to be in charge of appointing the cabinet, Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, felt it necessary to say today, while opening a meeting of the cabinet: "In order to avoid various sorts of talk of who is the boss in the... MORE

The impression that a chaotic battle continues within Russia's "verkhushka"--the top echelons of the government and state--was reinforced yesterday by a series of contradictory decrees and statements from the Kremlin. President Boris Yeltsin yesterday released Mikhail Zadornov--who he had named first deputy prime minister in... MORE

It was announced today that on May 24 Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four top officials, including the president of Serbia, were indicted by the international war crimes tribunal. It marks the first time a sitting head of state has been charged with war crimes.... MORE

Envoys from Russia, the United States and the European Union (EU) held crucial consultations in Moscow yesterday and today aimed at promoting a political settlement of the Kosovo crisis. The talks went late into yesterday evening and resumed today. Today's session was expected to be... MORE