Valentin Moiseev, the Russian Foreign Ministry official arrested on July 3 for allegedly turning over secret information to a South Korean diplomat, was officially charged yesterday with high treason. The announcement, made by Russia's Federal Security Service, follows last week's expulsion of the South Korean... MORE

Ending two weeks of mounting panic on both sides of the globe, the IMF and World Bank announced on July 13 a series of new loans which may pour a total of $22 billion into the Kremlin's coffers over the next eighteen months. The IMF... MORE

IMF and U.S. representatives insist that the package was put together because they are confident that the Russian government is committed to structural reform. A second factor cited was the $7 billion or so in lost export revenue this year as a result of the... MORE

Russia's financial markets rallied in response to yesterday's announcement, with blue chips rising 15 percentage points at the news. Financiers warned, however, that this could yet prove a flash in the pan. There would need to be firm evidence, they said, that the government was... MORE

Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto put a brave face on a difficult situation yesterday as he called for continued improvement in Russian-Japanese relations during talks with visiting Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko. Hashimoto's meeting with Kirienko, which came a day after the defeat of Hashimoto's... MORE

Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was the primary architect of a Japanese diplomatic initiative aimed at improving Russian-Japanese ties by de-emphasizing a territorial dispute between the two countries over four Russian-held islands. The South Kurils, seized by Soviet troops at the close of World War... MORE

The presidents of Russia and Cyprus yesterday expressed their satisfaction over friendly relations between the two countries and signaled their intention to work toward broader bilateral cooperation. Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Glavcos Clerides reiterated their intention also to follow through on a controversial weapons deal... MORE

Estonia has opened the door to permanent residency for most of the non-native, non-citizen Russian population. Under a legislative amendment approved by parliament, new rules for granting permanent residency permits took effect yesterday. Holders of temporary residency permits are now entitled to receive permanent residency... MORE

Ten European countries announced yesterday that they are joining the fifteen countries of the European Union in denying entry visas to Belarusan officials. (See the Monitor, July 13) This brings the total of ostracizing countries to twenty-five. The announcement was made at the Brussels meeting... MORE

At least five Russian soldiers were killed by a remote-control land mine on July 12 in Abkhazia's Gali district. The soldiers were patrolling an area where Georgian guerrillas challenge Abkhaz control. Although the perpetrators were not identified, Russia's Foreign Ministry and the Russian military command... MORE