Vladimir Petrov, First Deputy Minister of Finance, was arrested yesterday in connection with allegations that he accepted a large bribe from an unidentified commercial bank in return for furthering the bank's interests. (ORT, September 1) Also in trouble with the law is Aleksandr Rutskoi Jr.,... MORE

Transdniester president Igor Smirnov yesterday charged that the central government of Moldova plans to invite NATO troops for a "Bosnia-type military solution" to the Dniester conflict. "Transdniester will never accept the entry of NATO troops, even if Moldova joins the NATO alliance," Smirnov vowed. "They... MORE

Armenian President Robert Kocharian yesterday announced the appointment of Gasia Abgarian as his spokeswoman. The move is the latest in a series of appointments of diaspora figures to government posts in Armenia. A graduate of the University of California and a former chief of the... MORE

The Clinton-Yeltsin talks in Moscow mark the fourth time in five years that the two presidents have held formal summit meetings. The U.S. president was greeted on his arrival in Moscow early yesterday morning by acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Yeltsin and Clinton began their... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday expressed concern over the August 31 launching by North Korea of a medium-range ballistic missile--part of which apparently fell into Russian waters in the Sea of Japan and part of which flew over Japanese territory. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin... MORE

Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has drawn up a list of new cabinet members and sent it to President Yeltsin, Russian media reported yesterday. (Itar-Tass, September 1) The present ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs are expected to remain in their posts but there... MORE

There were few surprises yesterday as U.S. President Bill Clinton held the first of two days of summit talks in Moscow. A somewhat qualified reaffirmation of his support for economic reform by Russian leader Boris Yeltsin did, however, generate some concern among American delegation members.... MORE

The Duma is expected to reject Viktor Chernomyrdin's candidacy when it debates it for the second time on September 7. Members of Chernomyrdin's camp are loudly warning the Duma that, if it rejects Chernomyrdin's candidacy for a third time a week later--on September 14--President Yeltsin... MORE

Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbaev has assured foreign investors that their contracts are safe in the republic. The prime minister insisted that his government has no plans to revise its privatization policy: "It is simply putting things in order and expects foreign investors to honor... MORE

Belarus and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam "hold identical political views" and "conduct convergent internal and external policies," President Alyaksandr Lukashenka concluded yesterday after three days of talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Duc Luong in Minsk. The two presidents criticized unnamed former socialist countries... MORE