Among the other question marks that hang over the resumption of Russian-U.S. arms control "consultations" (the Bush administration refuses to call them "negotiations," a stance mirroring Moscow's own earlier approach to missile defense talks with the United States) is what they say about parallel talks... MORE

On July 29 Gennady Khodyrev, a State Duma deputy and member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), defeated Ivan Sklyarov, Nizhegorod Oblast's incumbent governor, in a run-off gubernatorial election. Khodyrev received almost 60 percent of the votes. Sklyarov won only 29 percent... MORE

The first round of voting in the election for governor of Irkutsk Oblast was a much more modest affair than the Nizhegorod Oblast runoff. Quite unaccompanied by events of national significance, the contest was won by the incumbent governor, Boris Govorin, who received some 45... MORE

Iran's use of military force to evict a British-led oil consortium from Azerbaijani waters (see the Monitor, July 25-26) poses far-reaching international problems. Iran's unchallenged move adds to uncertainties about the legal status of the Caspian Sea and even creates uncertainties where there were none.... MORE

Russian officials announced just over a week ago that six Russian soldiers had been arrested in connection with abuses committed during so-called zachistki ("cleansing" or "mopping up") operations ostensibly aimed at apprehending Chechen rebels and carried out in western Chechnya earlier this month (see the... MORE

During his July 27 meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Akhmad Kadyrov, who heads the pro-Moscow administration in Chechnya, expressed concern over the absence of real security in the republic. "There isn't security for anyone in Chechnya--not for me, not for anyone," Kadyrov said, adding that... MORE

Visiting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on July 26-28, French President Jacques Chirac put the full weight of France behind the three Baltic states' candidacies for NATO membership. This move changes the correlation of forces in the intra-European debate over NATO's enlargement. Through Chirac's statements, France... MORE

French President Jacques Chirac's support--and indeed any support--for the Baltic candidacies to NATO would not have been possible in the absence of Baltic progress on the Membership Action Plans and on economic and political reforms. It was the successful reforms that Chirac chose to underscore... MORE

Estonia's currency board and tight fiscal policy have been enormously successful in bringing down the country's rate of inflation, from an average annual rate of 1,075.4 percent in 1992 when the currency board was implemented to 29.0 percent in 1995 and 3.3 percent in 1999.... MORE

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus met on July 25-26 in Vitsyabsk, Belarus (Russian name: Vitebsk) for the "Slavic Bazaar" Cultural Festival. A routine annual event, the festival celebrated its tenth anniversary this year and added a... MORE