In the runup to President Haidar Aliev's visit to Washington, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is negotiating three separate contracts with the U.S. companies Exxon, Chevron, and Mobil to develop offshore oil deposits. In a new negotiating strategy, SOCAR seeks to reserve for... MORE

In a move likely to be unpopular in a number of European capitals, the Clinton Administration announced yesterday that it favors the admission of only three new members -- Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic -- in the first round of NATO enlargement. The decision,... MORE

U.S. defense secretary William Cohen yesterday reassured the NATO allies in Brussels that Moscow is maintaining adequate control over its nuclear forces, but he cautioned that Russia may face problems later as funding shortages continue to erode the capabilities of its armed forces. In a... MORE

Russia has offered to sell its most modern jet warplanes to Indonesia without "political conditions," according to an official at the Russian embassy in Jakarta. Last week Indonesia canceled the purchase of 9 U.S. F-16 fighters because of Congressional criticism of Indonesia's human rights record.... MORE

The Ukrainian parliament yesterday rejected a government bill to preserve a two-year tax break for foreign companies investing in Ukraine. The bill had sought to offset partially the parliament's April cancellation of tax and tariff advantages previously available to foreign investors. Deputy Prime Minister Serhy... MORE

The Russian delegation to today's meeting in Brussels of the defense ministers of the countries taking part in NATO's Partnership for Peace program is led by First Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kokoshin rather than the newly appointed minister, Gen. Igor Sergeev. Kokoshin is the highest... MORE

Russian first deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov will hold talks in China from June 22-26, Russian government sources said in Tokyo on June 11. Nemtsov, who just completed a visit to Japan, heads the Russian side of a bilateral commission on trade, economic, and scientific... MORE

Presidents Haidar Aliev of Azerbaijan and Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakstan conferred on June 10-11 in Almaty on bilateral relations and on Caspian oil issues. The presidents and ministerial officials signed a package of economic agreements, most importantly on oil transportation. The documents envisage an immediate... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov and Belarusan president Alyaksandr Lukashenka exchanged yesterday in Minsk the instruments of ratification of the Russia-Belarus Union. Describing the union as a first step toward reconstituting the USSR, Lukashenka praised Primakov's role as "an engine in the movement toward that... MORE

Latvia's leaders yesterday went out of their way to demonstrate that they take seriously Moscow's complaints over the June 6 explosion which damaged the Red Army's victory monument in Riga. President Guntis Ulmanis issued a statement describing the act as a "condemnable attempt to harm... MORE