The Ukrainian escort ship Bukovina yesterday fired warning shots to chase 11 Turkish fishing boats from Ukraine's Black Sea economic zone. The Ukrainians boarded two boats, which they then escorted to the Ukrainian port Kerch. There were no casualties. (Interfax-Ukraine, March 13. See Monitor, March... MORE

The governor of Russia's Arkhangelsk region -- home to the country's only nuclear submarine producer -- said yesterday that he intends "to sell a few submarines to friendly countries" to cover the state's debt to the region's defense plants. Governor Anatoly Yefremov put that debt... MORE

More than 30 Japanese ambassadors to European countries have concluded after a three-day meeting in Tokyo that Japan should continue to seek improved relations with Moscow. The ambassadors said that Boris Yeltsin's recovery and a lessening of anxiety about the country's economy have ushered Russia... MORE

China's ambassador to Russia made clear on March 12 that, despite Beijing's opposition to NATO enlargement and its "strategic partnership" with Moscow, there is no chance of a Chinese-Russian-Belarusan bloc being created as a counterweight to the Western alliance. The ambassador made his remarks during... MORE

A recent meeting of the leadership of the Russian Communist party heard that the party is failing to attract new members. Membership has halved since last summer, when the CP claimed more than 500,000 members, and now stands at between 250,000 and 280,000. (Moskovskaya pravda,... MORE

Evidence continues to accumulate indicating that declines in gross domestic product of the two largest CIS economies are coming to an end. Contrary to earlier forecasts, a recent statement by Ukrainian prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko suggests that Ukrainian industrial production grew by 1 percent during... MORE

In the wake of the March 10 mass protests in Minsk against a merger of Belarus with Russia (see Monitor, March 11), police have arrested scores of real or alleged participants who now face heavy fines or up to 15 days imprisonment. The police yesterday... MORE

An inconspicuous but important and previously unseen nuance has appeared in Kiev's statements on the enlargement of NATO. Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko and the head of the foreign policy department of President Leonid Kuchma's administration, Volodymyr Ohryzko, urged in separate statements on March 11 and... MORE

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma ended his official visit to Moldova (see Monitor, March 12) by meeting with Transdniester leaders Igor Smirnov and Grigory Marakutsa in Chisinau. Moldovan president Petru Lucinschi, who had proposed the meeting, was present. The Transdniester leaders agreed with a joint proposal... MORE

An amnesty for those involved in "socially dangerous activity" during the Chechen war was adopted yesterday by the Duma in its third and final reading. The amnesty does not extend to those accused of serious crimes such as bandit raids, terrorism, or sabotage. Its main... MORE