In letters to U.S. president Bill Clinton and vice president Albert Gore, made public by Kyiv yesterday, President Leonid Kuchma addressed serious concerns expressed by the U.S. side during recent meetings, including last month's Washington session of the intergovernmental cooperation (Gore-Kuchma) commission. Kuchma pledged his... MORE

Having suffered a diplomatic setback on the NATO enlargement issue that has left it vulnerable to sniping from nationalists at home, the Kremlin in recent days has made the most of the expanded role that President Boris Yeltsin will play at this week's Group of... MORE

The embattled governor of Primorsky krai, Yevgeny Nazdratenko, has urged the regional legislature to call early elections for his own post and that of his arch-rival, Vladivostok mayor Viktor Cherepkov. The Russian government and President Boris Yeltsin personally have expressed support for fresh elections as... MORE

Today, the Duma is debating the government's revised austerity budget for 1997. Despite yesterday's defeat on social welfare reform, First Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Petrov said he was guardedly optimistic that a compromise could be reached today. First Deputy Premier Anatoly Chubais also expressed cautious... MORE

On June 17 the Russian Duma rejected the government's proposed packet of six laws reforming social welfare, the main thrust of which was a reduction in the special benefits in housing, transport and pensions for certain categories of citizens, especially state employees. Deputy Prime Minister... MORE

According to Armenian reports, Karabakh will soon open a radio station that will broadcast in the Azeri, Lezgin, and Talysh languages. The radio will specifically address the problems of Azerbaijan's Lezgin and Talysh ethnic minorities. (Azg, June 17; see also Perspective section below) Russian Duma... MORE

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma has agreed to a proposal by his Moldovan counterpart, Petru Lucinschi, to begin talks on the deployment of Ukrainian peacekeepers in Transdniester. Kuchma informed Lucinschi that he has instructed Ukrainian government agencies to form a working group and to begin talks... MORE

Adm. Viktor Kravchenko, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, said yesterday that although there are no nuclear weapons on board his ships, the fleet "can carry nuclear weapons if necessary." He said that personnel are trained to deliver such weapons and that ships... MORE

An official of the Russian Orthodox Church has added his voice to the Yeltsin administration's campaign to remove Lenin from Red Square. Archpriest Gennady Geroev, a church spokesman, said yesterday that Lenin's embalmed body is a "symbol of evil" and should be buried. (AP, June... MORE

In an address to the Russian Supreme Court on June 17, First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov complained that courts are too lenient with tax-dodgers. He said that current legislation allows a maximum prison sentence of only three years, so tax evasion should be reclassified... MORE