Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov has angered some of Russia's regional leaders by urging constitutional changes which would dispense with popular elections for governors. He made his suggestion on February 21 during a conference in St. Petersburg of the "North-West" interregional association, which is made up... MORE

Differences between Moscow and Tokyo over their long-standing territorial dispute were laid bare once again this past weekend as Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov completed three days of high-level talks in the Japanese capital. Both sides were careful to emphasize both the warming in bilateral... MORE

A new Ukrainian parliamentary group, called For Regional Revival (FRR), was announced on February 19. It numbers twenty-seven deputies, most of whom are connected to big business--specifically, the gas trade, the most lucrative sector of the national economy. Among those who joined are Yukhym Zvyahilsky... MORE

The Commander of Russia's Air Force, Colonel-General Anatoly Kornukov, paid a three-day visit to Armenia to inaugurate the joint operation of a Russian-Armenian air defense system. At the Erebuni airbase outside Yerevan, Kornukov oversaw the first combat drills of MIG-29 interceptor planes, the first batch... MORE

Differences between the old, "romantic" wing of Ukraine's largest anticommunist political force--the Rukh--and its younger reformist generation reached a climax at the meeting of the Rukh's leadership on February 20. The majority of the party's central committee, led by former Environment Minister Yury Kostenko, approved... MORE

Russian diplomatic and military officials disclosed on February 20 that at least five CIS countries propose eliminating the CIS Council of Defense Ministers (CDM) because it is "unnecessary." The Moscow officials named Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan as the countries behind the proposal. The... MORE

When Yevgeny Primakov became Prime Minister of Russia, a delighted Alyaksandr Lukashenka described him as "my think-alike" (moy yedinomyshlennik), a high compliment in Russian political parlance. On February 17, the Belarusan president upped his estimate even further: "Yevgeny Primakov is, I might say, my teacher,"... MORE

Sverdlovsk Governor Eduard Rossel held a press conference on February 20 at the Interior Ministry headquarters in Moscow. Rossel, who had just met with Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin, spoke to journalists to give his reaction to the resignation last week of Valery Kraev, the head... MORE

Another apparent step in the latest anticorruption drive came on February 18, when the Prosecutor General's Office handed the Interior Ministry's investigations committee a criminal case involving alleged large-scale embezzlement and tax violations at the state-owned AvtoVAZ car factory in Togliatti. The charges may involve... MORE

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, together with delegations of German and European Union (EU) officials, wound up a two-day visit to Moscow on February 19. Talks between Russian and EU officials took place on February 18, while meetings between the top German and Russian leaders followed... MORE