ARMENIAN CHURCH LEADER ACTIVE IN MOSCOW.

On an extended visit to Moscow, Armenian Patriarch Karekin I conferred with a wide range of officials, both secular and religious, the Noyan-Tapan news agency reported June 15-19. The main reception in his honor featured Duma hardliners Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Konstantin Zatulin, former USSR prime minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, former Armenian communist party chief Suren Harutiunian, and Dashnak representatives who are now at odds with the Armenian government. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksi II said that his meetings with Karekin I marked the “opening of a new chapter in the history of Russian-Armenian relations.” The two men joined with the Islamic leader from Azerbaijan to call for an end to fighting throughout the Caucasus.

New Caspian Sea Talks Planned.