On a three-day visit to Syria, Belarusan foreign minister Ivan Antanovich obtained an invitation for President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to pay an official visit Damascus in return for an invitation to Syrian president Hafiz al-Assad to visit Belarus. Antanovich also offered Belarusan tractors and trucks in... MORE

Government sources in Tokyo suggested on July 18 that Russian and Japanese negotiators have managed to resolve some of their differences on sovereignty issues in talks aimed at regulating fishing around the disputed Kuril Islands. (Kyodo, July 18) The talks, which were launched in March... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday congratulated Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic on his July 15 election as president of Yugoslavia. Yeltsin's message credited Milosevic with being a long-time contributor to stability in the Balkans and urged closer relations between Moscow and Belgrade. (Russian agencies, July 22)... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has refused to sign into law the controversial bill "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations," although it had been overwhelmingly approved by both houses of the Russian parliament. The bill would divide religions into two categories: into the first class... MORE

President Yeltsin has ordered the creation of a new presidential council for federal and nationalities policy. (Itar-Tass, July 22) The aims of the new body, which will operate under the auspices of the presidential administration, include developing policy on federal and interethnic relations and coordinating... MORE

Sergei Stepashin, named as justice minister on July 2, has been appointed to Russia's powerful Security Council by President Yeltsin. He takes the place of former Justice Minister Valentin Kovalev, sacked in wake of the "sex in the sauna" scandal. (Itar-Tass, July 22) Meanwhile, Stepashin... MORE

Russian defense minister Igor Sergeev admitted in an interview published yesterday by Izvestia that there is considerable opposition within Russia's military leadership to the government's emerging defense reform program. Sergeev said that dissatisfaction with the reforms is centered in the country's Defense Ministry apparatus, which... MORE

Russian naval commander in chief Adm. Feliks Gromov yesterday introduced the new commander of the Pacific Fleet to the fleet's Military Council, thus confirming a change that had been reported by some media last week. Vice Adm. Mikhail Zakharenko takes over from Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov,... MORE

The heads of eight religious denominations in Ukraine, meeting at the presidential palace in the presence of Leonid Kuchma, have signed a memorandum on mutual relations. The document provides for mutual renunciation of "forceful actions" or pressures in interdenominational disputes over church buildings and other... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has signed a long-awaited decree allowing Russia's largest producer of uncut diamonds, Almazy Rossii-Sakha (ALROSA), based in the Republic of Sakha, to continue its cooperation with the De Beers Central Selling Organization (CSO). ALROSA has been selling its diamonds to the... MORE