On December 24 a high-ranking Russian government official confirmed that Russia had conducted five "subcritical" nuclear tests between September 14 and December 13, 1998. In addition, First Deputy Atomic Energy Minister Lev Ryabev said that Russia intends to conduct the same number of such tests... MORE

In an apparent effort to thaw relations between Washington and Moscow, which grew increasingly chilly as 1998 came to a close, Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton held a forty-minute telephone conversation on December 30. It was the first time that the two leaders had... MORE

On December 29, nearly two years after reaching a controversial agreement with Moscow to deliver Russian S-300 air defense missiles to Cyprus, Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides announced that the missiles would likely be sent instead to the Greek island of Crete. Turkey had threatened to... MORE

President Askar Akaev yesterday dismissed the entire cabinet of ministers and announced that a new cabinet would be in place before January 1. Akaev named the former first deputy prime minister, Boris Silaev, 53, as acting prime minister. The ousted cabinet of Kubanychbek Zhumaliev had... MORE

Heading a governmental delegation to Kazakhstan on December 22-23, Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov endorsed President Nursultan Nazarbaev's bid for reelection in the January 10 balloting. While disclaiming any intent to interfere in Kazakhstan's internal politics, Primakov declared that "we do have our preferences.... Russia... MORE

The Ukrainian Prime Minister in 1995-1996 and current presidential aspirant, Yevhen Marchuk, has resigned as head of the United Social Democratic Party (USDP) faction in parliament. Marchuk explained this with his decision to concentrate on his work as chairman of the parliament committee for social... MORE

Meeting yesterday in Ashgabat, Presidents Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and Saparmurat Niazov of Turkmenistan agreed on the immediate resumption of Turkmen gas supplies to Ukraine after an interruption of almost two years. The agreement envisages the delivery of 20 billion cubic meters of gas in... MORE

On December 21 in the Chechen capital of Djohar, unknown persons in camouflage uniforms kidnapped Salambek Khadzhiev, director of the company "Chechengazprom" (Segodnya, December 23). During 1991-1992, Salambek Khadzhiev was one of the most influential political opponents of then Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudaev. However, in... MORE

Two Russian military whistle-blowers--each of whom has been accused of espionage for trying to publicize the state of the Russian navy's nuclear wastes--were back in the news this week. Retired naval officer Aleksandr Nikitin, the better known of the two, has reportedly sued Russian Atomic... MORE

As the United States and Russia moved to mend their bilateral relations following the air strikes on Iraq, maneuvering continued this week among permanent UN Security Council members over future policy toward Baghdad. On December 22 Moscow launched an initiative aimed at jumpstarting that process.... MORE