As the Helsinki summit between Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton approaches, there have been some moderately encouraging signs of progress in the stalled strategic nuclear arms reduction process. Yesterday the commander-in chief of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF), Gen. Igor Sergeev, came out in... MORE

Mixed signals from the Russian government have preceded a week-long IMF mission to Moscow, which begins today and which is expected to produce an agreement on Russia's macroeconomic and structural policies for 1997. (Interfax, March 7) On March 6, First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Potanin... MORE

A top Japanese government spokesman on March 7 welcomed a reference to the Russo-Japanese Kuril Islands dispute made by President Boris Yeltsin in his state of the nation address to parliament one day earlier. It was the first time Yeltsin has made mention of the... MORE

Criticism of the Clinton Administration's NATO enlargement policy came from both sides of the aisle in Congress on March 6. During a hearing with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Democratic Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin described the alliance's expansion as an "historically arrogant decision which... MORE

The White House on March 7 confirmed a Russian report that the schedule for the summit meeting between the Russian and U.S. presidents has been moved up one day, and will now take place in Helsinki on March 19-20. In Moscow, meanwhile, it was announced... MORE

A series of measures decreed by President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the course of this week aim to drastically reduce and simplify the structure of Kazakstan's government. The reform seeks to end "Communist-style management," to economize funds, and to "strike a strong blow against corruption, inefficiency,... MORE

For the past several weeks Armenia and Azerbaijan have traded accusations over what each claims have been illegal arms dealings by the other. This latest round of disputes began in mid-February after Russian sources revealed that the Russian military had illegally supplied a number of... MORE

Transdniester leader Igor Smirnov has reaffirmed to Yuri Karlov, Russian president Boris Yeltsin's special envoy, and to a visiting CIS Interparliamentary Assembly delegation, that Transdniester will not return to the negotiations with Chisinau and will also withhold cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Moldova in... MORE

Inflation in Ukraine continued to decline during the first two months of 1997. The 2.2 percent inflation rate recorded in January was followed by an 0.9 percent rate in February, well below the 2.1 percent figure officially forecast for that month. These rates are consistent... MORE

Belarusan president Aleksandr Lukashenko on March 5 issued a decree banning the use in rallies and demonstrations of flags, emblems, and symbols which are "not officially registered." The measure evidently reacts to the use of Belarusan national flags and historic symbols in anti-presidential and pro-independence... MORE