Turkmen President Saparmurat Niazov and the new defense minister, Batyr Sarjaev, conferred yesterday in Ashgabat with General Anthony Zinni, commander in chief of the Central Command of the United States Armed Forces. The talks focused on both incipient reforms in the Turkmen armed forces and... MORE

In a news conference and an interview, both broadcast yesterday, President Eduard Shevardnadze commented on the terrorist conspiracy uncovered the preceding day in Georgia (see the Monitor, May 24). He cited findings which suggest that the conspiracy had targeted not only the him but the... MORE

Several thousand Belarusans marched in downtown Minsk yesterday, demanding the release of political detainees and "disappeared" representatives of the opposition. Victims of such repression include former Prime Minister Mikhail Chyhir, former Internal Affairs Minister Yuri Zakharenka, two members of the forcibly dissolved parliament, a number... MORE

President Leonid Kuchma on May 21 publicized his 1998 income declaration, and was followed on May 24 by his main challengers in the run-up to presidential elections--Communist leader Petro Symonenko, Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz and Progressive Socialist Party leader Natalya Vitrenko. Kuchma declared an annual... MORE

In an interview published today, Anton Surikov, press secretary to former First Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Maslyukov, claims that charges of top Russian officials and other notables having Swiss bank accounts are true. Surikov, a veteran of Russia's special services, also claims that Yeltsin will... MORE

Viktor Chernomyrdin claimed yesterday that Moscow has prevailed upon the West to allow Belgrade to maintain some of its troops in Kosovo. "It has taken two or three weeks to convince our counterparts--the United States and [other] NATO countries--that, while withdrawing [Yugoslav] troops, it is... MORE

As the Kosovo conflict's chief peace brokers geared up yesterday for yet another frenetic week of negotiations, Russia's special envoy for the Balkans appeared to send signals which may not be much appreciated in the West. Former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is scheduled to... MORE

Work on staffing Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin's new cabinet is completed. According to reports this afternoon, Stepashin has announced that Aleksandr Zhukov, the head of the State Duma's budget committee, will not join the cabinet as a first deputy prime minister, as Stepashin had originally... MORE

The eagerly awaited sale-and-purchase agreement on Turkmen gas deliveries to Turkey was signed on May 21 in Ashgabat. The agreement covers a 30-year span, to begin when the planned trans-Caspian pipeline becomes operational. The document envisions deliveries of 30 billion cubic meters annually, of which... MORE

Georgia's Internal Affairs and State Security ministries announced yesterday the arrest of at least nine suspects in a conspiracy to assassinate President Eduard Shevardnadze. The authorities seized a cache of explosives and weapons, including mines, sniper rifles and grenade launchers. Also seized were magazine quality,... MORE