CIS HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS ANNOUNCED.

CIS Executive Secretary Ivan Korotchenya last week made public a schedule of high-level CIS meetings in the weeks ahead: the Defense Ministers’ Council, March 27; the Foreign Ministers’ Council, April 2; the prime ministers, April 12; and the presidents, May 17; all in Moscow. (Itar-Tass, March 21). Hastily devised by Yeltsin loyalist Korotchenya, the schedule of events appears designed to enable Yeltsin to compete politically with the Russian Communists in demonstrating initiative in the matter of CIS integration. This schedule fails to accommodate Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze’s proposal for an emergency summit to rebut the Duma’s March 15 resolutions.

Yeltsin Aide Rules Out Use of Force as Response to Duma Vote.