On November 16, Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced that the military has finished the scrapping and/or removal of heavy weaponry from Moldova, in accordance with the adapted Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE). Russia's Operational Group of Forces, stationed in Moldova's Transdniester region, successfully... MORE

As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on November 16, the ghosts of Ramadans past were back in Kabul. Forces that had fought each other inside and around Kabul from 1992 to 1996, destroying the city and killing some 50,000 civilian inhabitants, seized the... MORE

In another sign of rapidly improving relations between Russia and the West, the British government has reportedly circulated a proposal among the governments of NATO member states urging that cooperation between Moscow and the Western alliance be formalized by creating a Russia-North Atlantic Council. The... MORE

While the November 18 meeting between Viktor Kazantsev, President Vladimir Putin's representative in the Southern federal district, and Akhmed Zakaev, representing the Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, raised hopes that real negotiations for an end to the Chechen conflict had begun, the Russian side yesterday... MORE

Russian politicians have been reacting to the first meeting between Viktor Kazantsev, President Vladimir Putin's representative in the Southern federal district, and Akhmed Zakaev, representing the Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, which took place on November 18. Sergei Yushenkov, who is deputy head of the... MORE

Only a day after Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush concluded what by most accounts was a jovial three-day summit in Washington and Texas last week, an event occurred in St. Petersburg that starkly highlighted the degree to which Russian-U.S. cooperation in the Bush... MORE

Talks between the Russian government and the Chechen rebels began yesterday, when Akhmed Zakaev, a representative of rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, met with Viktor Kazantsev, President Vladimir Putin's representative to the Southern federal district. The meeting took place at Moscow's Sheremetevo Airport, at which Zakaev... MORE

Enterprises in the leisure sector are reaping the benefits of rapid increases in the disposable income of residents in the Baltic countries. Three instances of this are lotteries, gambling and film. Between 1993 and 2000, real wages rose 33 percent in Latvia, 52 percent in... MORE

Agriculture has been having a tough time in Lithuania. Accounting for 10-12 percent of Lithuanian GDP, a much higher share than the EU average, agriculture also accounts for 18 percent of employment in the country. Yet past output data have not been encouraging. Then earlier... MORE

For United Ukraine (FUU), a bloc formed by the administration of President Leonid Kuchma for the country's parliamentary elections of March 2002, has finally come up with a candidate for its leadership: Volodymyr Lytvyn, currently head of the presidential office. The FUU--which is made up... MORE