Maneuvering over the related issues of NATO enlargement and NATO-Russian relations has continued on several fronts in recent days, as NATO secretary general Javier Solana held talks in Moscow on March 9 and preparations accelerated for the March 19-20 U.S.-Russian summit in Helsinki. The talks... MORE

Chechen first deputy prime minister Movladi Udugov has flatly denied a statement by Tatarstan's president Mintimer Shaimiev that Shaimiev and Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov will soon meet in Kazan. (Interfax, March 8, 9) It is not clear what happened to derail the planned meeting at... MORE

Some 4,000 people demonstrated outside the Belarusan parliament yesterday, protesting against the holding of a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarus Community and the presence of a Russian Duma delegation headed by Chairman Gennady Seleznev. The demonstrators, many of them young supporters of... MORE

Transdniester's leadership announced yesterday that it has "decided to halt the activity in the region" of the OSCE's Mission to Moldova. Self-styled state secretary Valery Litskay elaborated that the Mission's "access to the region is inexpedient" because of its report last month to the OSCE's... MORE

British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind yesterday stated that Ukraine's eventual admission to NATO is crucial to overcoming the USSR's legacy in Europe. More than any other country, Ukraine shapes Europe's geopolitical situation "because of its relevance to the collapse of the Russian empire," Rifkind said.... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin is reported to have relieved Col. Gen. Fyodor Reut of his post as commander of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasus, in connection with an intended restructuring of that command. According to the reports, Reut has been placed at the Russian... MORE

Georgian partners of McDonald's announced yesterday the signing of a contract with the U.S. fast-food chain. The company will build two restaurants in Tbilisi, due to open before the end of 1997, and three more in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi in 1998. The enterprise will... MORE

Workers at the Polyet Aerospace Association in Omsk say they will begin a strike on March 14, despite the fact that 5 billion rubles have been allocated to the company to pay back wages. The employees say they have not been paid since July 1995.... MORE

Japan's Kyodo press agency, citing unnamed sources "well-versed in Japan-Russian relations," said on March 8 that Russian presidential aspirant Aleksandr Lebed intends to visit Japan, China, and India in April or May of this year. The sources claimed that preparations for Lebed's visit to Tokyo... MORE

A bomb, allegedly of Italian manufacture, went off on March 9 near the home of former Chechen field commander Shamil Basaev. One person was injured. Police are investigating, but Basaev's headquarters said there was as yet no reason to assume that there had been an... MORE