Russia's Foreign Ministry and its Foreign Intelligence Service yesterday categorically denied U.S. and Israeli media reports accusing Moscow of continuing to help Iran develop ballistic missiles. A Foreign Ministry source said that such reports "do not correspond to reality" and reiterated that Moscow has "given... MORE

Russian border troops yesterday continued their skirmishing with Japanese fishermen in the waters around the disputed Kuril Islands. In one incident, Russian patrol ships chased five Japanese boats said by the Russian side to have been fishing in Russian waters. In another incident, a Russian... MORE

Four journalists from Russia's state television have been released "in order to preclude further use of the incident as a pretext for harming Russia-Belarus relations," a communique from the office of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said yesterday. The communique, carried by all state media, also warned... MORE

Although visiting Defense Minister Igor Sergeev reiterated yesterday in Kiev that Russia no longer wants to buy the 42 ex-Soviet strategic bombers inherited by Ukraine, he and his Ukrainian counterpart suggested that the two sides might cooperate in finding some other use for the planes.... MORE

The Ukrainian government has launched a summer offensive on the world's capital markets. On August 13 it successfully placed $450 million worth of 12-month eurobonds on the Luxembourg securities market. The issue, which was managed by Bankers' Trust, pays 3.25 percent above the LIBOR rate.... MORE

Uzbek foreign minister Abdulaziz Komilov yesterday detailed President Islam Karimov's proposal, outlined on August 23, to create an International Contact Group in order to negotiate a political settlement of the Afghan conflict. Uzbekistan proposes that the forum be comprised of Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and other... MORE

The secretary of the Russian Defense Council, Yury Baturin, is planning a visit to the orbiting Mir space station, Russian space officials announced yesterday. Although Baturin is a lawyer, he also studied aerophysics and space research in the early 1970s. His space training has yet... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday ordered Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov to fly to Minsk in order to launch urgent talks with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka on the full range of Russia-Belarus relations, including the release on humanitarian grounds of ORT journalists Pavel Sheremet and Dmitry Zavadsky.... MORE

The Second World Congress of Ukrainians yesterday completed a five-day meeting in Kyiv. Some 1,700 diaspora representatives and guests attended. Addressing the congress, President Leonid Kuchma urged the diaspora to redouble support for Ukraine "at a most critical time in its history" and pledged to... MORE

Djohar-gala is accusing Russia of dragging its feet in restoring the Chechen sector of the oil pipeline through which oil from Baku is due to be exported to Europe. The complaint was voiced by Chechen vice president Vakha Arsanov when he met Azerbaijani president Haidar... MORE