Thousands of striking Russian coal miners continued their protests yesterday in support of their demands for the payment of overdue wages. In several places, strikers have added political demands for the government's dismissal and the impeachment of the president to their initial economic demands. The... MORE

The Russian government has referred to the Constitutional Court the law--passed earlier this month by the State Duma--restricting foreign ownership of Russia's electricity giant, United Energy Systems (UES), and other energy sector companies to a maximum of 25 percent. At present, foreign investors are believed... MORE

Among the topics discussed by Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton in Birmingham on May 17 was Washington's continued concern over alleged cooperation between Iran and Russia in the development of Iranian ballistic missiles. After the meeting, Clinton told reporters that the two had discussed... MORE

Yeltsin's remarks on May 17 were presumably a reference to a series of actions taken earlier this month by the Russian government aimed at increasing its control over exports of missile and other dual-use technologies. On May 5, Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told reporters that... MORE

During their meeting in Birmingham, Clinton had also received assurances from Yeltsin that the Kremlin would intensify its efforts to win ratification of the START II strategic arms treaty (see the Monitor, May 18). However, two leading members of the lower house of the Russian... MORE

Russia and the United States worked together last week to draft a Security Council statement acknowledging progress by Iraq in dismantling its clandestine nuclear arms program. The statement promised that the Council would consider reducing or ending spot inspections on atomic weapons and move on... MORE

The Kremlin reacted cautiously yesterday to news of Aleksandr Lebed's election as governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told a radio interviewer that the president hoped for "constructive interaction" with all three new regional leaders elected on Sunday. (RTR, Ekho Moskvy, May 18)... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin's spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told Ekho Moskvy radio station yesterday that Yeltsin might decide to run for a third term in office in 2000. Yastrzhembsky's words were cautious, however, noting merely that Yeltsin himself "had not ruled the possibility out." (Ekho Moskvy, May... MORE

Chechen First Deputy Premier Shamil Basaev hopes that Chechnya and Dagestan will soon unite into a single state. He stressed that unification should take place through political, not military, means. According to Basaev, the new state would be able to defend itself more effectively against... MORE

In an interview with the newspaper Moskovsky komsomolets, Chechen Deputy Prosecutor General Magomed Magomadov, head of Chechnya's special anti-kidnapping detachment, suggested that the recent attempt on his life (see the Monitor, May 14) was the work of criminal groups involved in the abduction of Valentin... MORE