Interviewed on Karabakh television, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian offered firm assurances that Armenia would not accept a peace settlement based on mere autonomy of Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan. Armenia would only accept a settlement based on "a contractual, horizontal relationship between the... MORE

In an apparent effort to dispel persistent rumors of early elections, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev on May 5 confirmed that parliamentary and presidential elections "will adhere to the Constitution" and take place on December 1, 2000. The president dismissed rumors of early elections as fabrications.... MORE

Kazakhstan's Majlis--its lower house of parliament--voted yesterday against adding to the law on family and marriage a provision which would have allowed polygamy. The amendment drew on Islamic law and traditional Kazakh tribal customs. However, supporters of monogamy won by a wide margin with the... MORE

Moscow yesterday added its voice to the storm of international criticism directed at India for its three underground nuclear tests on May 10. Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky described the tests as "a violation of the fabric of international agreements," and called on India to give... MORE

The Indians have put the Russians in an awkward position at a delicate stage in the nuclear disarmament process. On the one hand, Moscow is inclined to support a traditional friend and a linchpin of its foreign policy in Asia. India is also a major... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin yesterday used a visit to the Russian Foreign Ministry to deliver what was billed as an important foreign policy speech. The Russian leader broke little new ground in his 45-minute address, but did reiterate several key principles that have guided Russia's diplomacy... MORE

Chechnya yesterday celebrated the first anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty with Russia. By a decree of President Aslan Maskhadov, May 12 was declared a national holiday. (NTV, RTR, May 12) The day before, the Chechen parliament ratified the treaty. (Itar-Tass, May 11)... MORE

The Monitor's correspondent in Saratov Oblast reports that the new Landowners' Party, to be set up by Oblast Governor Dmitri Ayatskov, will hold its founding congress in Saratov at the end of May. Ayatskov predicts a huge potential membership for the party, claiming that the... MORE

Meanwhile, Ayatskov faces more immediate problems at home. The Monitor's correspondent in the region reports that Saratov Oblast's groundbreaking land law is being challenged by the Russian prosecutor general. On May 14, a Saratov oblast court is due to begin hearings into the complaint by... MORE

Jointly condemned the "unwarranted economic and political pressures" exercised by Russia on Latvia, Presidents Lennart Meri of Estonia and Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania met yesterday with their Latvian counterpart Guntis Ulmanis in Latvia's capital Riga. They described those pressures as potentially endangering regional and European... MORE