The upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, failed yesterday to muster sufficient votes to override President Boris Yeltsin's veto on the Land Code. The code, which would have outlawed the free sale of agricultural land throughout Russia, had been approved by parliament... MORE

The Russian Duma yesterday postponed its scheduled debate of the government's revised 1998 budget after the government submitted twelve last-minute amendments. The budget will now receive its fourth and supposedly final reading on February 20. The Duma was to have held the debate today. The... MORE

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Shchelkunov announced yesterday in Ashgabat that the scheduling of President Boris Yeltsin's overdue visit to Turkmenistan depends on resolution of differences over gas transit and other disagreements. Moscow has for the past year blocked Turkmen gas exports through Russian pipelines -- the... MORE

The deputy head of President Boris Yeltsin's administration, Yevgeny Savostyanov, announced yesterday that "there is a good chance" that Igor Giorgadze and associates would be detained and extradited to Georgia. The Russian authorities, he said, "will do everything possible" toward that end. The Giorgadze group... MORE

Day-long talks held yesterday in Tiraspol by Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi and Transdniester leader Igor Smirnov revealed a deepening impasse in the negotiations to settle the conflict. Instead of focusing on that task, the discussions were diverted into dealing mainly with recent economic and political... MORE

The president of Russia's southern republic of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has dissolved the republic's government and subordinated the heads of republic ministries directly to himself. Ilyumzhinov said he was making the changes in an effort to cut republic expenditures. Some ministries will be abolished and... MORE

Russia and China reconfirmed their "strategic partnership" yesterday during a visit to Moscow by Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng. Li's arrival marked the third time that he has met with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin under a program of regular contacts that was instituted in... MORE

The Russian government has beefed up its long-standing application for membership of the World Trade Organization by submitting to WTO headquarters in Geneva a list of nearly ten thousand imported goods on which the government says it is prepared to cut import duties. This still... MORE

Yesterday's annual state-of-the-nation speech by the Russian president was long on exhortation and short on specifics. Yeltsin endorsed market reforms but qualified his enthusiasm for the reform team with a categorical demand that the government find ways of boosting economic growth or face dismissal. "If... MORE

Although it was devoted primarily to domestic issues (see also yesterday's Monitor), Russian President Boris Yeltsin also used his state-of-the-nation speech yesterday to reiterate Moscow's opposition to military strikes on Iraq and to highlight several other important foreign and security policy issues. Yeltsin's remarks on... MORE