Among the positive outcomes of the December 9 talks in Brussels between Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were assurances given by Moscow that Russia's parliament would soon ratify the START II strategic arms treaty. According to Albright, Ivanov... MORE

The Russian government Thursday (December 10) approved a draft 1999 budget, one which includes, for the first time, a small surplus. Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov called it a "tight" budget, but an "honest" one. "We did not include expenditures we cannot finance," Primakov said. "This... MORE

The coalition, however, also faces serious obstacles. One is that it appears to have, thus far, little support in Russia's regions: Only one regional leader, Tver Governor Vladimir Platov, showed up for yesterday's meeting, along with a small group of mayors. In contrast, twenty governors... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin returned to his office today, apparently as part of an ongoing bid to reestablish himself as boss. On Monday (December 7), Yeltsin left the hospital where he has been recovering from pneumonia and spent three hours at the Kremlin, during which... MORE

The new center-right coalition set up by former Acting Premier Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais, the architect of Russian privatization, had its first meeting in Moscow on Thursday. Among the participants were former Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko, two former deputy prime ministers--Boris Nemtsov and Boris... MORE

The Party of National Unity (PNU), which aspires to represent the Leninabad region's interests and is headed by the exiled former Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullajonov, was banned yesterday by the Supreme Court of Tajikistan. It was President Imomali Rahmonov's office which announced and justified the... MORE

Georgian Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze, visiting Romania, unveiled a proposal to create a joint peacekeeping contingent of the GUAM countries--Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova-- for missions in the Caspian Sea-Black Sea area. According to Tevzadze, experts of the four GUAM countries recently held consultations on... MORE

Georgia's presidential plenipotentiary for the settlement of regional conflicts, Irakly Machavariani, announced yesterday that Tbilisi has submitted a draft of South Ossetia's political status to the region's authorities and to the mediators. South Ossetia had submitted a maximalist draft some months ago and suspended further... MORE

Belarusan journalist Pavel Sharamet received yesterday in Minsk the International Press Freedom Award for his defense of professional rights with "great courage and ability despite constant persecution." A delegation of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists handed the award to Sharamet after the authorities... MORE

Interviewed in the latest issue of the Chisinau weekly "Saptamina," President Petru Lucinschi is urging the population of Moldova to unite around the idea of "European patriotism." According to Lucinschi, Moldova's ethnically diverse society can find a basis for civic consensus in this "new idea... MORE