The terrorist killed in the assassination attempt on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze was carrying a passport in the name of Nisamutdin Dzhangaliev, an ethnic Chechen resident of the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt. The Khasavyurt police confirm that a passport in that name was issued a... MORE

Swedish Foreign Minister Lena Hjelm-Wallen announced yesterday that that government has approved a plan to deliver Swedish-made military equipment to the Baltic States. Some of the equipment will be delivered gratis, and the rest for a symbolic price. The planned supplies include antitank and antiaircraft... MORE

President Eduard Shevardnadze and other Georgian officials yesterday voiced strong suspicions that the previous night's attempt on Shevardnadze's life (see Monitor, February 10) had originated in Russia. "They can not forgive me [the Soviet withdrawal from] Afghanistan, the [fall of the] Berlin Wall, the [Soviet]... MORE

Russian Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov unveiled the government's revised draft tax code yesterday. He said he expected parliament to pass the new code by the middle of this year. If not, he said, Russia will be stuck with its present code for the next two... MORE

Interviewed in yesterday's issue of the governmental Rossiiskaya gazeta, Russia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov charged that the West and its allies "openly encourage CIS countries to conduct foreign policies that are markedly independent of Russia." As a result, "some countries of the 'near... MORE

The go-getting governor of Saratov Oblast on the Volga says the power-sharing agreement his region signed with the federal center last year is already "too restrictive" and needs to be renegotiated. The Monitor's correspondent in Saratov says Governor Dmitri Ayatskov has issued a public statement... MORE

President Yeltsin's visit to Italy was described as getting off to an embarrassing start yesterday. Yeltsin broke protocol by marching straight past the Italian flag, despite attempts to aides to get him to slow down and salute it. Later, when journalists asked Yeltsin why he... MORE

Tatarstan's controversial bill on republic citizenship will not have an easy time when it comes to the republic's parliament, the State Council, this week. The Monitor's correspondent in the Volga region reports that parliament's legal advisers have returned the draft to the parliamentary drafting commission... MORE

In addition to bilateral issues, Yeltsin and Prodi reportedly also discussed a number of international security issues, including NATO's enlargement and the crisis in the Persian Gulf. According to Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Yeltsin reiterated Moscow's opposition to NATO's expansion plans. He particularly underscored Russia's... MORE

On the second day of a three-day visit to Italy, Russian President Boris Yeltsin yesterday met with Pope John Paul II and oversaw the signing of a large package of Russian-Italian political and trade agreements. A Vatican spokesman described the meeting between Yeltsin and the... MORE