Azerbaijani president Haidar Aliev and his foreign affairs and defense ministers conferred on October 17-19 with the visiting U.S. ambassador to NATO, Robert Hunter, on developing Azerbaijan's relations with the alliance. Summing up the discussions, Foreign Minister Hasan Hasanov stated that Azerbaijan welcomes NATO's eastward... MORE

After being rebuffed by Moscow when it argued that it should share in the division of the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet, it seems that Georgia is going to receive at least a few Russian warships after all. A Russian military delegation headed by Col.... MORE

President Nursultan Nazarbaev has virtually completed a government reshuffle that follows the October 10 appointment of Nurlan Balgymbaev as prime minister. (See Monitor, October 10) Kazakhstan's foreign partners will find Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokaev, Defense Minister Muhtar Altynbaev, First Deputy Prime Minister and State Investment... MORE

Early voting began yesterday in Kemerovo oblast's gubernatorial elections. Most of the electorate will go to the polls on Sunday, October 19. There are three candidates for governor of the coal mining region, center of Russia's Kuzbass. Aman Tuleev, a former Communist firebrand who was... MORE

The "Group of Four," consisting of the Russian president, prime minister, and speakers of the two houses of parliament, will meet early next week -- either on Monday or on Tuesday. Preparations are also underway for a meeting early next week of a roundtable consisting... MORE

President Yeltsin has reiterated his determination not to allow this week's conflict to derail his government. Making his weekly radio address to the nation this morning, Yeltsin reassured listeners that political infighting would not lead to instability. Russia, Yeltsin assured them, now has a political... MORE

Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov has written to President Yeltsin asking him to create a special commission to fight organized crime -- to be headed by none other than Gen. Kulikov. The minister said he has already taken steps to unify all such efforts within his... MORE

A joint action program has been signed in Moscow by representatives of the Russian Federation, North Ossetia, and Ingushetia, aimed at overcoming the consequences of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. The document was signed by Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the Presidents of North Ossetia and... MORE

Yavheniya Shastserikava, head of the Mahilyov regional branch of Belarusbank, was arrested on October 14 and indicted on criminal charges of misuse of office. The allegations center on Shastserikava's 1993-1997 tenure as director of the Dukat commercial bank. The arrest follows President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's October... MORE

The House of Representatives of Belarus approved in the final reading on October 15 changes to the law on the mass media. The move institutes nearly complete state control over the media. "Impugning the honor of the president" and "disseminating, importing, or exporting information harmful... MORE