A Russian Foreign Ministry communique yesterday rejected Azerbaijan's recent complaints and protests about Russian arms transfers to Armenia. Pegged to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's latest statement on the subject (see the Monitor, February 3), and ignoring Baku's series of demarches, Russia's Foreign Ministry asserted: (1)... MORE

Russia's State Television (RTV)--management of which was recently reinforced by veteran KGB officers--announced yesterday that it will soon put a joint Russian-Belarusan program on the air. The program is billed as being "sponsored by the Presidents" Boris Yeltsin and Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and is the first... MORE

A newly released study, based on a survey of Russian firms, casts serious doubt on the widespread view that organized crime dominates Russian industry. The paper--"Law, Relationships and Private Enforcement: Transactional Strategies of Russian Enterprises"--was written by Kathryn Hendley of the University of Wisconsin, Peter... MORE

The big stories of February 2--the "resignation" of Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov and the search of the offices of the Sibneft oil company--continue to generate news and speculation. Sibneft's offices were reportedly searched for more than nine hours that day, along with the offices of... MORE

Against the backdrop of an ongoing high-level political power struggle, former Justice Minister Valentin Kovalev was arrested yesterday and charged with stealing US$50,000 from the "Public Fund for the Protection of the Population's Civil Rights," an organization founded at Kovalev's initiative while he was justice... MORE

Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov's efforts to shape a preelection truce hit another speed bump yesterday when Russian State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev said that he might be willing to cooperate with Primakov--but only if President Boris Yeltsin resigns. Seleznev, a Communist Party member, told reporters... MORE

Throughout Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's stay in Germany, and during his brief visit yesterday to Bulgaria, he took every opportunity to reiterate Moscow's opposition to any NATO military intervention in Yugoslavia. Ivanov restated Moscow's contention that air strikes threatened by NATO against Belgrade would... MORE

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov wound up a two-day visit to Germany on February 2 during which he held separate talks with both German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. In his public remarks, Ivanov put a positive spin on the meetings.... MORE

A top Russian government official warned yesterday that his country will need up to US$3 billion to deal with the Year 2000 computer glitch. Russia had previously downplayed the likely impact of the Y2K problem, and the government last year had estimated the costs to... MORE

President Imomali Rahmonov, United Opposition leader Saidabdullo Nuri and their top aides held an emergency meeting yesterday on what they described as a deteriorating security situation in certain areas of Tajikistan. Rahmonov accused the opposition of failing to disband its military detachments and merge parts... MORE