While yesterday's Moscow deadline for Shpigun's release passed without violence, the force option has by no means been discarded altogether. Stepashin emphasized yesterday that Yeltsin had approved his set of responses--which included military intervention--should Shpigun remain in captivity. Judging by press reports and comments from... MORE

Presidents Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan and Saparmurat Niazov of Turkmenistan--none of them a friend of Berezovsky--have maintained a resentful silence over the Kremlin's arbitrary measure. Neither they nor their spokesmen have commented on Yeltsin's justificatory telephone calls--a clear indication of disagreement... MORE

The supporters of Vyacheslav Chornovil, the long-time leader of Ukraine's largest right-of-center party, the Rukh, pledged their loyalty to him at their congress on March 7. They ruled that Chornovil remain the Rukh chairman. The party's central committee and the majority at the congress a... MORE

Presidents Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia and Haidar Aliev of Azerbaijan took the opportunity to defend the rule of law in intra-CIS relations. Shevardnadze is, in all probability, the only head of a CIS state to have established a friendly personal rapport with Berezovsky, hoping that... MORE

If Russia's presidential commissioner for human rights can expound on the military benefits of the alliance with Belarus against NATO, why should the head of the Russian Orthodox Church not broaden his mandate in similar fashion and pray for CIS integration? This is what the... MORE

The Kremlin's unilateral decision to replace Boris Berezovsky with Ivan Karatchenya as CIS Executive Secretary has been met--as the Moscow daily "Izvestia" summed it up--"with a mixture of resentment and indignation" by most presidents of CIS countries. While they do not regret the departure of... MORE

The NATO headquarters in Brussels is hosting today and tomorrow a meeting of the NATO-Russia Permanent Committee at the chiefs-of-staff level. In preparation for the meeting, the Russian side wanted "to present to the NATO command a unified position of the CIS Collective Security Treaty's... MORE

As international efforts to end the bloody conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea have moved forward in recent weeks, Moscow authorities have been forced to answer allegations that Russian mercenaries are playing a significant role in that--and possibly other African--conflicts. This Russian presence was underscored some... MORE

Discomfort among leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) over a possible Russian peacekeeping role in Yugoslavia could yet complicate efforts to hammer out a Kosovo peace settlement. U.S. officials said yesterday that ethnic Albanian leaders in the independence- minded province were close to signing... MORE

The escalating hostilities between Moscow and Chechnya have alarmed some Russian politicians. Several liberal politicians have said that they oppose terrorism but fear the repercussions of a less- than-surgical Russian military response. State Duma Deputy Sergei Yushenkov, a leader of Russia's Democratic Choice and a... MORE