Moldovan president Petru Lucinschi conferred with his Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts, Haidar Aliev and Eduard Shevardnadze, in Baku on November 26-27 and in Tbilisi on November 28-29. The talks were the first among these three presidents since the creation of the quadripartite Georgian-Ukrainian-Azerbaijani-Moldovan (GUAM) grouping... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin reportedly has already decided when he will visit Chechnya, but does not intend to announce the date at this time. So far, Yeltsin has told the press only that he will travel to Chechnya in January. During the visit Yeltsin intends... MORE

In the next few days, the situation could heat up in southern Dagestan, where, under conditions of the strictest secrecy, a congress of the Lezgin people is to take place. The congress is expected to discuss proposals for the national and cultural autonomy of southern... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has signed a decree giving the owners of privatized houses the right to buy the land on which their homes are built. (Izvestia, November 28) At present, the land belongs to municipal governments. Izvestia describes the decree as a further step toward... MORE

Chechen deputy premier Akhmed Zakaev is visiting the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. According to official accounts, Zakaev is on a private visit and has no plans to meet with Georgian leaders. But a Russian daily reports that Zakaev, in fact, is in Georgia to lobby for... MORE

A mission from the International Monetary Fund opens talks with Russian leaders in Moscow today. The Russian government will seek to persuade the IMF to release a $700 million tranche of its $10 billion extended loan to Russia, which the IMF suspended in October because... MORE

Russian Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said in Moscow yesterday that Iraq is fulfilling its obligations to the UN and that sanctions on Baghdad should be gradually lifted. Zyuganov's remarks follow a visit to the Middle East that included stops in Jordan and Egypt as well... MORE

The ruble remains under strong speculative pressure and the Russian Central Bank yesterday raised all its Lombard rates to 36 percent in an effort to protect the currency from further decline. The refinancing rate, which was raised last month, remains unchanged at 28 percent. According... MORE

Fears that last month's departure of former prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldyn would lead to a reversal in Kazakstan's foreign investment policies have been confirmed in part by a recent decision to scale back public offerings in some of Kazakhstan's most attractive firms. The government announced... MORE

President Imomali Rahmonov told a donors' conference in Vienna on November 24 that Tajikistan's economy suffered $7 billion in damage from 1992-1996 as a result of warfare. (Russian agencies, November 25) The conference, at which a number of leading international humanitarian organizations were represented, also... MORE