Returning from a week-long visit to Moscow, Transdniester Supreme Soviet chairman Grigory Marakutsa named a list of preconditions for a political settlement between the Russian-controlled region and the central Moldovan government. In addition to wanting the political status of a distinct republic, Marakutsa stated at... MORE

Ukraine proposes to "reduce military tensions in the Black Sea" and turn that sea's basin into a "zone of peace," President Leonid Kuchma told a Kyiv news conference. Specifically, Kuchma called for demilitarization of Sevastopol and its transformation "from a naval base into a civilian... MORE

The NATO-Ukraine Commission yesterday held a landmark meeting at the ministerial level, as part of a session of the NATO Council which is comprised of the allied countries' foreign ministers. Reviewing the progress made in the implementation of the NATO-Ukraine Charter of Distinctive Partnership (signed... MORE

Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) are celebrating their 38th birthday today, and, while they, like all the armed forces, have been forced to make cuts in both personnel and equipment, they remain in the best shape of any military service. The unexpected installation of former... MORE

With the December 21 election day now imminent, Lithuanian presidential candidates Vytautas Landsbergis and Arturas Paulauskas sought and received Polish endorsements yesterday. Parliament chairman Landsbergis met in his native city of Kaunas with his Polish counterpart, Maciej Plazynski, spoke with him in Polish, and discussed... MORE

Nikolai Kovalev, the Director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), said yesterday that an American technician arrested November 25 on espionage charges is guilty and will not be allowed to travel freely before his trial. Richard L. Bliss, who is employed by the San Diego-based... MORE

First Deputy Premier Anatoly Chubais was at the center of another scandal yesterday, when he flew to India on an official visit on a special flight of Russia's state airline company, Rossiya. Journalists of the anti-Chubais camp pounced on what they described as the flouting... MORE

Russians were shocked by yesterday's news that a conscript serving with the Interior Ministry troops in Kizlyar in Dagestan had run amok and sprayed his sleeping comrades with gunfire; three were killed and eight were seriously wounded. (NTV, December 16) Also yesterday, two persons "of... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin yesterday wound up a two-day visit to Turkey during which the two countries signed more than a dozen bilateral agreements, topped by a major gas deal estimated to be worth more than $13 billion. The visit, which represented the highest... MORE

Yesterday, the Russian State Duma decided to postpone debate of the draft 1998 federal budget for one week, from December 17 to December 24. This means that Russia will definitely enter the new year without a budget. The Duma chose the postponement because the government... MORE