Local residents, international aid workers, and the Turkish consul in Mazar-e-Sharif (northern Afghanistan) were quoted yesterday as confirming reports that Russia and Iran are supplying the forces of Afghan warlords Rashid Dostum and Ahmad Shah-Masood, who are fighting against the Taliban movement. The sources reported... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday named Mikhail Fradkov to replace Oleg Davydov as minister for foreign trade. Fradkov, 46, was formerly first deputy minister. Also yesterday, the president appointed Aleksandr Pochinok to head the State Tax Service. (Itar-Tass, April 16) Pochinok, 39, is a member... MORE

The upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, yesterday postponed a vote on whether or not to override a presidential veto to approve a controversial bill on the return of art treasures seized by Russia at the end of World War II. (RTR,... MORE

Russia's Federation Council yesterday rejected President Yeltsin's nomination of Mikhail Krasnov as the nineteenth member of Russia's Constitutional Court. Krasnov, 48, has been legal aide to Yeltsin since February 1995. This is the third time the Federation Council has rejected his candidacy. (Itar-Tass, April 16)... MORE

The Russian government plans soon to make another Eurobond issue, this time in U.S. dollars, First Deputy Premier Anatoly Chubais has said. (Itar-Tass, April 15) This will be Russia's third bond issue since the Bolshevik Revolution. Stavropol to Dig Itself Off from Chechnya.

The authorities in Russia's Stavropol krai say they are planning to protect the region from cattle-rustling and thefts of farm machinery by digging a deep trench along the region's 114 km-border with Chechnya. The main roads linking Stavropol and Chechnya are guarded by checkpoints, but... MORE

France's Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that a NATO-Russian summit will take place in Paris on May 27 if differences between Moscow and NATO over a proposed political agreement are resolved by that date. The statement came hours before NATO secretary general Javier Solana was to... MORE

Two more Su-30K jet fighters were airlifted to India this week. So far eight of the planes have been delivered, ending the first stage of a multi-billion dollar contract for 40 of the modern aircraft. Ultimately they will all be converted to the Su-30MKI configuration,... MORE

Contrary to a claim made by Dushanbe, inter-Tajik negotiations in Tehran did not resume yesterday. Instead, Iran confirmed today the breakup of the talks, and Foreign Minister Aliakbar Velayati unilaterally told Russia's official news agency that negotiations would resume in Tehran next month. (Itar-Tass, April... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin arrived in Germany late yesterday for a two-day visit that includes talks today with Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the town of Baden-Baden. This evening Yeltsin is to be awarded a "man of the year" prize by German media. The visit marks... MORE