The presidents of the member countries of the CIS Customs Union -- Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan -- met in Moscow yesterday. The presidents declined to approve Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbaev's plan for a Single Economic Space following criticism from Russian president Boris Yeltsin. A... MORE

Despite the recent demotions of First Deputy Prime Ministers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov, there is every sign that the Russian government is readying itself for cuts and tighter controls over federal spending in order to prevent the budget deficit from spiraling out of control.... MORE

On January 19, the chief of Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian's security service, Maj. Gen. Roman Ghazarian, was fired upon in an ambush outside Yerevan. A day later, Ruben Hairapetian, an official of the governing Armenian Pan-National Union and head of one of Yerevan's districts, was... MORE

Ukraine's Finance Ministry sold 8.465 billion hryvnyi (about $4.5 billion) worth of treasury bills (OVGZs) last year, which represents a quantum increase over the 3.1 billion hryvnyi ($1.7 billion) sold in 1996, and the 369 million hryvnyi ($206 million) sold in 1995. (Russian agencies, January... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin traveled to Ashkhabad on January 13-14 in an effort to persuade Turkmen president Saparmurad Niazov to accept a new deal under which Gazprom will buy 30 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas. The deal would allow Russia to send more... MORE

An appeals court in Warsaw has upheld the decision of a lower court three months ago to refuse Russia's request for the extradition of Sergei Stankevich. He is the former deputy mayor of Moscow who is wanted in Russia on charges of accepting a $10,000... MORE

In parallel statements on Russian television channels yesterday, Russia's deputy prime minister Valery Serov and CIS cooperation minister Anatoly Adamishin called on Russians to stop designating the CIS and its member countries as Russia's "near abroad." Serov, who is responsible for CIS affairs in the... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday reiterated its support for Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat and placed the blame on Israel for the current deadlock in the Middle East peace process. The ministry statement was released to the press following a meeting in Moscow between Foreign Minister Yevgeny... MORE

Duma deputy speaker Sergei Baburin is also paying for the warming relations between the Communists and the government. The nationalist firebrand has been replaced as the Duma's spokesman on CIS affairs by an orthodox Communist, Svetlana Goryacheva. (ORT, January 21) Even the Communists say Baburin's... MORE

The pro-government "Russia is Our Home" (ROH) faction in the Russian State Duma is joining forces with the opposition Communist faction to oust Gen. Lev Rokhlin from his post as chairman of the Duma's influential Defense Committee. ROH hopes the move will speed up passage... MORE