The United Nations General Secretary's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, announced yesterday the appointment of Russian diplomat Yuli Vorontsov to the post of UN Deputy Secretary General. Vorontsov is now ending a tour of duty as Russia's ambassador to the United States. In his new post at... MORE

Russia's Gazprom chairman Rem Vyakhirev accuses official Kyiv of "theft" and of "purposely destabilizing the European gas market" by siphoning off Russian gas bound for Central and Western Europe via Ukraine. Ukraine allegedly "misappropriated" 2.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas last December and has... MORE

Following talks with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine in Moscow yesterday, Russian officials painted bilateral relations between the two countries in rosy colors. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that there are no problems in Russian-French relations and that yesterday's talks were therefore devoted to... MORE

In an apparent effort to mollify Washington, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a pair of decrees earlier this month which broaden the list of export defense-related items and technologies subject to government control. The decrees modify several earlier decrees Yeltsin issued--not surprisingly--in August 1997 (Reuters,... MORE

National Security Adviser Sandy Berger announced at an arms proliferation conference in Washington yesterday that the Clinton administration has decided to level sanctions against three Russian scientific institutes it believes are aiding Iran's missile and nuclear programs. The three institutes involved--the Scientific Research and Design... MORE

The idea that President Boris Yeltsin may be thinking about the proposed merger of Russia and Belarus as a way of extending his political career is gaining currency. Last fall, Russia's Constitutional Court ended speculation that Yeltsin could serve another presidential term. Yeltsin's argument had... MORE

The ruble, which hit a record low of 23.06 on January 11, strengthened slightly yesterday, reaching 22.58 to the dollar. Reactions to this upward waver were mixed. Some observers predicted the Russian currency would soon resume its downward trend. Others attributed its strengthening to a... MORE

Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbaev was reelected yesterday to another seven-year term of office. According to the Central Electoral Commission's preliminary data, the turnout was 86 percent and Nazarbaev won close to 80 percent of the votes cast. Communist Party leader Serikbolsyn Abdildin was the runner-up... MORE

For the first time since the end of Soviet rule in Central Asia, the Basmachi movement is being honored by the erection of a monument in one of its former strongholds. The Basmachi fought a guerrilla war against the imposition of Soviet rule in Central... MORE

In his first public appearance after reelection as president of Kazakhstan (see Central Asia section below), Nursultan Nazarbaev ruled out the idea that his country might join the Russia-Belarus Union. That union "smells of politicking, not of serious business. Kazakhstan will never join such a... MORE