Russia's acting prime minister Sergei Kirienko is proceeding with assembling a government for President Boris Yeltsin's approval. He has two weeks in which to do so. It is becoming increasingly clear that, though Yeltsin sacked the government as a whole, many if not most of... MORE

Ajaria's Supreme Soviet chairman Aslan Abashidze yesterday charged that Georgia's governing party, the Union of Citizens of Georgia, is "behaving unconstructively" and "busying itself with an invented problem of Ajaria." Rejecting assertions that Ajaria withholds taxes to the central government's budget, Abashidze claimed that Ajaria... MORE

The Mobil Corporation of the United States announced yesterday that the first westward shipment of Turkmen oil has reached Azerbaijan. The cargo was tanked across the Caspian Sea to Baku from the Turkmen port of Alaja. The experimental shipment of 4,700 tons originates from Turkmenistan's... MORE

Tajikistan, the country reporting the largest cumulative decline in GDP within the CIS during 1991-96, officially registered economic growth in 1997 for the first time since independence. Although the 1.7 percent growth in real GDP reported for 1997 pales next to the rapid growth recorded... MORE

Moldova's elections held on March 22 have produced a fragmented parliament. Turnout was a relatively high 68 percent, despite Transdniester authorities' refusal to permit the balloting in that territory. Some Transdniester residents voted at polling stations on the right bank of the Dniester. International observers... MORE

The leaders of Ukraine's Jewish organizations appealed yesterday to the U.S. Congress and to Jewish-American organizations to "urgently endorse" U.S. economic and political support for Ukraine. Observing that Ukraine "must pay a high, sometimes prohibitive price for its aspiration to be an independent country," the... MORE

Spring Wind 98, a joint Baltic military exercise, began yesterday in northwestern Lithuania's Telsiai district. Some 2,500 soldiers are involved, including motorized companies from Estonia and Latvia. The exercise simulates realistic combat conditions and is aimed at improving tactical defense skills. German and Danish officers... MORE

Belarusan President Alyaksandr Lukashenka yesterday expressed gratitude to Russia's Federal Intelligence Service (FSB) for informing him about "unfavorable developments in Poland and Lithuania." Specifically, Russian intelligence kept him informed about "subversive activities against Belarus" by Western intelligence services and by the Belarusan opposition using those... MORE

Yeltsin's decision to dismiss the Russian government has been assessed in contradictory ways within the Chechen leadership. Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov thinks it was a positive step. "The government led by Viktor Chernomyrdin was an obstacle to improving relations between Chechnya and Russia," he said.... MORE

Sources suggested yesterday that Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev is also a good candidate to survive the government reshuffle. The former strategic rocket forces commander has been in his post for less than a year, and has faithfully put in motion an ambitious -- and... MORE