Russian president Boris Yeltsin will take a two-week vacation in Sochi, on the Black Sea, following his April 16-18 visit to Germany. Yeltsin will break his vacation to meet with Chinese chairman Jiang Zemin, who is expected in Moscow for an official visit on April... MORE

Chechen first deputy prime minister Movladi Udugov, who heads the republic's delegation at peace talks with Russia, flew to Moscow last night for further consultations. Udugov and another Chechen negotiator, Said-Khan Abumusalimov, traveled in one plane while Russian Security Council secretary Ivan Rybkin and his... MORE

Boris Yeltsin yesterday named Sergei Prikhodko, a forty-year-old career diplomat, as presidential advisor for foreign affairs. Prikhodko replaces long time Yeltsin loyalist Dmitry Ryurikov, who was dismissed on April 4. Significantly, the new advisor will be subordinated to Sergei Yastrzhembsky -- the President's press spokesman... MORE

In what is assumed to have been a gangland killing, six bullet-ridden corpses were discovered yesterday on the grounds of a building on Moscow's Profsoyuznaya Street. All the dead were said by police to have been ethnic Azeris aged 25-30. The building is rumored to... MORE

U.S. secretary of defense William Cohen said on April 7 that South Korea should purchase U.S.-built Patriot missiles rather than Russian-made SA-12's. South Korea is currently deciding between the two missile defense systems, and many there consider the Russian weapons to be cheaper and more... MORE

In a nationwide radio address this morning, Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced a number of new measures to stamp out government corruption, which, he said, is the main reason for the state's low standing in the public eye. (BBC World Service, April 10) As of... MORE

Despite the progress made by Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton on nuclear arms control at their recent summit in Helsinki -- where a number of the initiatives announced were aimed at easing Russian opposition to ratification of the START II treaty -- the Duma decided yesterday... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov said yesterday that Moscow is prepared to sign a NATO-Russian political agreement in Paris on May 27 if drafting of the document is completed by that time. Primakov, whose remarks followed a meeting with French president Jacques Chirac at the... MORE

Russian Central Bank (RCB) chairman Sergei Dubinin broke ranks with other economic reformers on Monday when he announced his support for the proposed monetary union between Russia and Belarus. (Itar-Tass, April 7) Dubinin told a Moscow press conference that the RCB should be designated the... MORE

Talks on the transfer of Russian naval ships and shore infrastructure to Ukraine are resuming, the Ukrainian naval command announced yesterday. Scheduled for transfer are a total of 52 ships, including several frigates and escort ships, some missile cutters, one submarine (which will be Ukraine's... MORE