BELARUS-RUSSIA RELATIONS SEEN AS UNRELATED TO NATO’S ENLARGEMENT PLAN.

Senior Kremlin official Sergei Shakhrai’s statement that the drive for Russia-Belarus unification represents an effective response to NATO’s eastward enlargement (see Monitor, January 7) was a topic in yesterday’s talks in Warsaw between Polish prime minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Lithuanian foreign minister Algirdas Saudargas. Cimoszewicz commented after the talks that Russia-Belarus relations proceed according to their own dynamic, irrespective of NATO’s enlargement plan, and that the two issues should not be linked. (Reuter, January 7)

Russian Oil Slick Threatens Japanese Fishing Villages.