In terms of radical proposals, Sverdlovsk regional governor Eduard Rossel went well beyond Yuri Maslyukov's economic draft. After a meeting with President Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin, he told reporters he had urged a total ban on foreign currency circulation, the creation of a ruble... MORE

While government officials, former and current, debated the best way out of the current mess, depressing statistics continued to roll in. The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that since the crisis broke last August, the price of cooking oil had risen 3-4 times in... MORE

Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and his team met behind closed doors Thursday to discuss a plan aimed at resolving Russia's economic crisis. The proposals presented at the meeting were reportedly those drafted by Yuri Maslyukov, Primakov's economics czar. (Indeed, government spokesman Andrei Korotkov had announced... MORE

The UN Security Council yesterday strongly condemned the recent massacres of civilians in Kosovo and called on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to punish those responsible for the bloodshed. But the statement did not carry the weight of a UN Security Council resolution. The statement also... MORE

Furthermore, Nazarbaev's statements should be seen in the context of a tightening grip on the media and as a POSSIBLE reaction to opposition. As recently as September 26, the premises of the independent Russian-language "21-iy vek"--a newspaper frequently critical of the government--were destroyed by two... MORE

Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbaev proposed constitutional changes yesterday which would reduce his substantial executive powers by increasing those of the two parliamentary chambers. In his annual address to the nation, broadcast live on national television, Nazarbaev told parliament that he would like to see a... MORE

The secretary-general of NATO, Javier Solana, conferred with President Eduard Shevardnadze and other Georgian leaders in Tbilisi yesterday. Solana made clear NATO's interest in the creation of a regional security environment for mineral development projects and international transportation routes. He and his Georgian hosts were... MORE

Kyrgyzstan's Assembly of People's Representatives (parliament) yesterday began deliberations on President Askar Akaev's recent proposals to change the country's constitution. The proposals envisage a substantial increase of presidential powers and a corresponding reduction of the parliament's powers, even depriving deputies of parliamentary immunity for the... MORE

Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves resigned his post yesterday, citing political sniping and intrusion into foreign policy by the governing parties as the reasons for his resignation. Prime Minister Mart Siimann's Coalition Party and its partner, the Country People's Alliance, had questioned Ilves's political loyalty... MORE

Yevgeny Primakov paid a visit to Belarus yesterday, his first visit outside Russia as prime minister of that country. He concurrently took over the chairmanship of the Executive Committee of the Russia-Belarus Union, the top intergovernmental body in charge of economic, political and military programs.... MORE