Not all Russian deputies were happy with yesterday's vote. The recently named chairman of the Duma's Defense Committee, Roman Popkovich of the Russia Is Our Home faction, said that the vote had "dealt a serious blow to prospects for development of the country's nuclear forces."... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev arrived in Brussels yesterday, where he began talks with Belgian leaders and is scheduled, on June 12, to take part in the second of a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers. Sergeev's arrival coincided with a period of frenetic diplomatic... MORE

Yesterday, Aleksandr Lebed attended the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, for the first time in his new capacity as the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, and officially became a member of the chamber. (ORT, June 10) Following his recent election, Lebed has... MORE

Russia's increasingly autonomous regional leaders protested loudly yesterday at rumors of a plan by Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov to assert federal control over borrowing by the regions. (Itar-Tass, ORT, June 10) Details leaked out of a draft presidential decree requiring regional governments to seek... MORE

An apparent worsening of relations between the republics inspired visits to North Ossetia and Ingushetia by a group of top Russian officials. The group included the first deputy chief of the presidential administration, Vladimir Putin, Federal Security Service Director Nikolai Kovalev, Deputy Interior Ministers Petr... MORE

In talks with Russian officials in Moscow yesterday, Estonian Culture Minister Jaak Allik requested the return of Estonian historical valuables held in Russia. The valuables include Estonia's Presidential Badge of Office, taken in 1940 by Soviet occupation authorities from President Konstantin Paats, who died in... MORE

The deadline for eviction of foreign missions from Minsk's Drazdy compound expired yesterday, only to be extended by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka until June 17. The Belarusan Foreign Ministry cited Lukashenka as expressing "concern over situation that has come about." The President instructed government agencies to... MORE

In his first visit to a CIS country as prime minister of Russia, Sergei Kirienko conferred behind closed doors with Belarusan President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and co-chaired with Belarusan Prime Minister Syarhey Linh a regular biannual session of the Russia-Belarus Union's Executive Committee. Rhetoric about Slavic... MORE

Leaders of Azerbaijan's opposition parties are warning that they may boycott the upcoming presidential election unless the electoral legislation is changed. Although the parliament on June 9 amended thirty-two out of fifty-nine articles of the law on presidential elections, meeting some of the opposition's proposals... MORE

Revenue from Kazakhstan's forecast 1998 GDP growth will not be enough to finance the country's rising deficit and local analysts fear a budget crisis for the government. The IMF, though recently praising Kazakhstan's macroeconomic reforms (see the Monitor, June 3), also urged the country to... MORE