The commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's land-based forces, Gen. Vladislav Chernomurov, yesterday turned down Kiev's proposal on mutual withdrawal of Russian and Ukrainian marine infantry from the city of Sevastopol. Chernomurov claimed in a media statement that the Russian marine infantry's mission in... MORE

Russian first deputy foreign minister Boris Pastukhov yesterday called for a Russian-Ukrainian condominium in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait. Opening a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian subcommission on border issues, which is part of the bilateral intergovernmental commission cochaired by the prime ministers, Pastukhov... MORE

President Aleksandr Lukashenko yesterday told Minsk media that public support in Belarus for unification with Russia has plummeted from 90 to 62 percent. Lukashenko charged that the Russian public debate on the union treaty and charter, and Russian media coverage of the issue, are causing... MORE

. Monthly inflation fell in Russia to 1 percent in April, from 1.4 percent in March. This gives an annual rate of 15.2 percent, the lowest 12-month figure since Russian economic reforms started in 1992. (Interfax, April 30) Year-on-year inflation has fallen steadily since autumn... MORE

Russian first deputy prime minister Anatoly Kulikov warned a group of financial officials on May 5 that the state is hovering on the edge of bankruptcy. Kulikov claims that 44 percent of the federal taxes supposedly collected in the first quarter of the year were... MORE

Gen. Petr Deinekin, commander in chief of Russia's air force, urged on May 4 that the country's armed forces be streamlined from five to three service branches by consolidating the Air Defense Forces, Strategic Rocket Forces, and Military Space Forces into one branch under the... MORE

Ukrainian defense minister Gen. Oleksandr Kuzmuk disclosed yesterday a proposal sent two weeks ago to his Russian counterpart, Gen. Igor Rodionov, for the withdrawal of Russian and Ukrainian marine infantry units from Sevastopol by the end of 1997. President Leonid Kuchma last week aired that... MORE

Uzbek president Islam Karimov is concerned that a union of Russia and Belarus, if created, would exert pressure on Ukraine to "willy-nilly join in," and that a tripartite "Slavic union" would enable Russia to "control the entire post-Soviet space." Belarus "would have to give up... MORE

President Nursultan Nazarbaev has decreed the abolition of Zhezkazghan, Kokchetau, and Semey (Semipalatinsk) regions, merging them with the Karaghandy, North Kazakstan, and East Kazakstan regions, respectively. (Interfax, May 5) Two weeks ago Nazarbaev abolished the Taldy-Kurghan and Turghay regions, dividing their territories among neighboring regions.... MORE

Sections of the text of President Boris Yeltsin's April 28 decree on restructuring the natural monopolies have been made public. (Interfax, May 4-5) Contrary to the initial publicity, it seems unlikely that the government will force sweeping changes on the three natural monopolies -- Gazprom,... MORE