Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Maslyukov yesterday stepped up his criticism of the Russian state arms trade company Rosvooruzhenie and repeated his call for a change in the company's leadership. In remarks to reporters, Maslyukov described Rosvooruzhenie's performance as "unsatisfactory." He also claimed, vaguely,... MORE

In another possible sign of his declining engagement in Russian diplomatic affairs, Russian President Boris Yeltsin may have asked Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov to stand in for him at an Indian-Russian summit scheduled for next month in New Delhi. At least, that seems to be... MORE

The Duma, meanwhile, was the center of another scandal yesterday. Viktor Ilyukhin, the radical communist deputy who heads the chamber's security committee, claimed he was in possession of four power-of-attorney documents dating back to 1994--three of them signed by financier Boris Berezovsky, who is currently... MORE

Russians across the political spectrum were remarkably united yesterday in condemning Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the mercurial president of Kalmykia, located on the Caspian Sea. On Tuesday (November 17), Ilyumzhinov said that his semi-autonomous republic might consider becoming an "associate" member of the Russian Federation, or even... MORE

The wanted Lieutenant-Colonel Akaki Eliava, leader of the October 19 Zviadist-military mutiny, made an unexpected appearance on the Tbilisi TV station Rustavi-2 on November 16. Interviewed at an undisclosed location, Eliava demanded the release of Zviadists detained in connection with that mutiny. He confirmed that... MORE

The recent, abortive invasion of Tajikistan from Uzbekistan (see the Monitor, November 4-10) has helped advance the difficult political accommodation between the Dushanbe government and the United Tajik Opposition (UTO). These two long-standing enemies joined forces to defeat the Uzbek-led effort. Both sought to avoid... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev yesterday wound up an official visit to the Middle East which he suggested would re-invigorate military-technical cooperation between Russia and both Egypt and Syria. Sergeev met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on November 16 and held talks in Cairo with... MORE

Even as the Kremlin was making its pitch to Germany's chancellor for Western financial assistance, Russian officials half a world away were making the same pitch yesterday to U.S. Vice President Al Gore. In a meeting held on the margins of the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation... MORE

During Schroeder's talks with Yeltsin, reported to have lasted about an hour, the two were said to have discussed Russia's economic woes and proposed joint economic projects. The projects discussed included one under which Germany, Russia and Ukraine would work jointly to build a new... MORE

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder held talks in the Kremlin yesterday with ailing Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Afterward, the German leader said that he wanted to maintain strong ties between Russia and Germany and suggested that East Germany's experience in moving from a planned to a... MORE