In a development little noted by the Western press last week, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov presided over a small ceremony in which he presented to the public a new book--"The New Russian Diplomacy: Ten Years of the Country's Foreign Policy"--he himself had written. Those... MORE

During a trip to the North Caucasus last week, President Vladimir Putin held up Kabardino-Balkaria as an example for Russia's other regions. In comments given little attention by the Russian media, Putin said that while Kabardino-Balkaria is not one of Russia's more prosperous republics, it... MORE

President Vladimir Putin said during a trip last week to southern Russia that negotiations to settle the Chechen conflict were "better than actions involving the use of force" and that the Kremlin was "ready for contacts with anyone." The president, however, who was responding to... MORE

The outcome of yesterday's presidential balloting in Belarus is a foregone conclusion. Incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka orchestrated what was essentially a one-man campaign, saturating the country with media coverage of his own candidacy while denying media access to opposition candidate Uladzimir Hancharyk. The balloting, moreover,... MORE

After a several-month period in which it largely disappeared from the diplomatic radar screen, the issue of alleged Russian leaks of defense and nuclear technologies to Iran reemerged suddenly with a vengeance this past week. The direct cause of this most recent focus was Israeli... MORE

In a fresh lesson on how little ideology, principles or capacity for shame play a role in Russian politics, Sergei Dorenko, the erstwhile enfant terrible of Russian Public Television (ORT), announced this week that he plans to create a coalition called "In Defense of Putin... MORE

Police in Moscow yesterday broke up an unauthorized demonstration marking the tenth anniversary of the proclamation of Chechnya's independence. According to the Interfax news agency, the police detained around ten demonstrators who were holding antiwar placards. Another antiwar demonstration in Moscow, organized by the For... MORE

On September 3-4, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin paid a private visit to Moscow, nominally at the invitation of Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia on the fortieth anniversary of the latter's consecration as bishop. There was no word of a meeting between the... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin completed a largely successful two-day visit to Finland this past weekend that, in both its symbolic and more substantive content, fully reflected the many ambiguities that continue to condition and complicate Russia's foreign relations with neighboring countries and with the West... MORE

Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller did some house cleaning this week. At a meeting of the natural gas monopoly's top executives on September 3, Miller replaced the company's number two, Vyacheslav Sheremet, a close ally of former CEO Rem Vyakhirev, with another deputy CEO, Pyotr Rodionov.... MORE