On September 22-24, Russian deputy prime minister Valery Serov discussed with Chisinau and Tiraspol leaders the future of the Russian troops and massive arsenal in Moldova. Transdniester leader Igor Smirnov reaffirmed the claim to part of the Russian arsenal for Transdniester's forces. At Petru Lucinschi's... MORE

Despite condemnations from human rights groups and the most recent pleas of U.S. vice president Al Gore, a controversial Russian bill on religion seems set to become law. Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, yesterday approved the law on freedom of conscience and... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin charged on September 23 that Israel is responsible for the breakdown of peace talks in the Middle East and he declared that Russia would work to raise its own diplomatic profile in the region. Yeltsin's remarks followed a meeting in Moscow... MORE

Although he described the protocol drafted yesterday by First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov and representatives of the picketing defense industry workers as a document containing "positive answers" to workers' demands, union official Yury Spichenok said that the five-day protest action would be continued --... MORE

According to a survey conducted by the National Living Standards Center, the number of people living in poverty in Russia started to drop in the first half of 1997, although the gap between rich and poor continued to grow. The study found that the number... MORE

The Ukrainian parliament yesterday approved a new law on parliamentary elections, changing the existing majoritarian system to a mixed majoritarian-proportional one. Under the new law, half of the deputies will be elected in single-mandate territorial districts and the another half on the basis of country-wide... MORE

Russian Duma chairman Gennady Seleznev disclosed yesterday that Uzbekistan has suspended its participation in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, which pursues "legislative integration" of CIS countries. Seleznev, who is attending an international conference in Tashkent, complained also that Uzbekistan's executive power is "critical toward the CIS"... MORE

Kazakhstani president Nursultan Nazarbaev, Chinese prime minister Li Peng, and senior officials of the two countries signed yesterday in Almaty a set of agreements on oil extraction and transportation valued in total at some $9.5 billion. The package is being described as Central Asia's "deal... MORE

From November 1 no retail stores will be allowed to accept dollars in Russia, completing the transition to an exclusively ruble-based domestic retail system. In 1995, 8 percent of retail trade was in dollars. That had dropped to one percent by 1997 as a result... MORE

The Moscow Anti-Fascist Center estimates that of the 40 extremist groups operating in Russia, only eight have more than 1,000 members. Despite their small numbers, they have an impact through their newspapers and street protests. The eight largest groups are: the Cossacks, Zhirinovsky's LDPR, Anpilov's... MORE