As predicted by the Monitor on November 19 and since, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has endorsed Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma over the latter's political opponents in Ukraine. The two presidents met on January 30-31 for a "no-necktie summit" at Yeltsin's Zavidovo residence outside Moscow. Yeltsin... MORE

Azerbaijani President Haidar Aliev renewed his demand over the weekend that Moscow evacuate its military bases from Georgia and Armenia and repatriate to Russia the combat hardware it has supplied to Armenia and Karabakh. Aliev reiterated that Azerbaijan possesses itemized lists of more than $1... MORE

On January 21, Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko and National Bank Chairman Viktor Yushchenko announced that the currency corridor of 1.75-1.95 hryvna to the dollar was being widened to 1.8-2.25, the hope being that the new corridor could be sustained for the remainder of 1998. As... MORE

Hopes for a brighter future were high when Aleksandr Dzasokhov was installed as president of North Ossetia on January 30. He headed the Communist party in the North Caucasus region in the late 1980s before going to Moscow to serve in Mikhail Gorbachev's Politburo. The... MORE

Another attack on the garrison in the Dagestani town of Buinaksk took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. The first, in December, involved a large group of armed gunmen attacking sleeping soldiers. This one involved a single unidentified gunman, who threw a grenade... MORE

Sverdlovsk Governor Eduard Rossel and other regional heavyweights had immediate and angry reactions to last week's announcement on Chechnya by Russian Security Council Secretary Ivan Rybkin. Moscow, Rybkin said, may suggest to Chechnya that it be recognized as "a sovereign and independent state, freely associated... MORE

Talks between U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, held in Spain on January 30, failed to bridge long-standing differences between the two countries on how best to deal with the crisis in the Persian Gulf. In remarks to reporters... MORE

As for the government, Yeltsin said he had decided that the current team headed by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin could be kept "almost intact." It was possible, he added, that "one or two people" might have to be replaced. He did not say who they... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin, who celebrated his 67th birthday on February 1, told a meeting of media bosses in the Kremlin last week that he did not want to infringe the constitution and was not, therefore, planning to run for a third term. Yeltsin said that... MORE

Kazakhstan's government has reaffirmed its commitment to repatriating ethnic Kazakhs even though many returnees have found it hard to adjust to their new circumstances. (Express Khronika, January 27; Panorama, January 9) Since Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, its government has actively sponsored the return of... MORE