Developments in Africa reportedly figured prominently in a thirty-minute April 6 telephone conversation between U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The two were said to have discussed how Moscow and Washington might cooperate in Africa, a region riven by U.S.-Soviet rivalry during... MORE

Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini wound up two days of talks in Moscow yesterday during which he met with his Russian counterpart, acting Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, acting Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko and acting First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov. Dini is thus the highest-ranking... MORE

On April 4 and 5 Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat hosted consultations between the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Lahdar Brahimi and leaders of the alliance that hold out in northern Afghanistan against Taliban authorities. During the talks, the "northern alliance" leaders -- including the runaway President... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has appointed Lieutenant General Nikolai Reznichenko as the new commander of the Group of Russian Border Troops in Tajikistan. Reznichenko, 46, served on various borders of the former USSR from the Baltic to Central Asia, fought in Afghanistan in 1984-88, and... MORE

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has sentenced a soldier to twelve years' imprisonment as a spy for Iran. The soldier, an Azerbaijani conscript, pleaded guilty to all charges. He had supplied Iran with military information in 1996 and 1997 from Azerbaijan's autonomous Nakhichevan republic, which... MORE

Talks involving President Petru Lucinschi and leaders of the four parliamentary parties toward forming a possible governing coalition have run into serious difficulties. The March 22 parliamentary elections produced -- as anticipated (see Monitor, March 20 and 24) -- a fragmented parliament. The Communist party... MORE

An explosive charge detonated yesterday some forty meters outside the Russian embassy in Riga, breaking windows of some of the embassy's cars, but not touching the building or injuring anyone. President Guntis Ulmanis, Prime Minister Guntars Krasts, and Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs in separate statements... MORE

Court proceedings are currently underway in Minsk against several leaders and activists of the Belarusan Popular Front (BPF) and the Youth Front, accused of participation in "mass disorders" on April 2. Those on trial, or already convicted to the usual "administrative" terms of up to... MORE

Russia's Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu arrived in Djohar on a plane supplying humanitarian aid for the mountain regions of Chechnya, which have been hit by catastrophic landslides. Sixteen tons of sugar, nine tons of canned meat and one-and-a-half tons of medical supplies were... MORE

A group of about fifteen people made a raid Monday night on a police checkpoint in the Dagestani city of Kizlyar, near the Chechen border. Two policemen died in the crossfire. Dagestani police ran some of the suspects to ground near the village of Oktyabrskoe,... MORE