DEADLINE FOR KOZYREV.

Chairman of the Russian Central Election commission, Nikolai Ryabov, announced January 3 that newly elected lawmakers currently holding posts incompatible with service in the Duma must choose one or the other before January 6. The news came amid reports that Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, faced with just such a choice, would be on vacation in the Moscow area until January 8. A source close to Kozyrev reportedly said there had been no decision on which post Kozyrev would choose. Meanwhile, Yeltsin’s aide for Foreign Policy, Dmitri Rurikov, told reporters yesterday that Russia’s foreign policy priorities for 1996 included expanded relations with China and other Asian states, the opening of markets for Russia in Asia and Latin America, European affairs, NATO relations, and the Russia-U.S. dialogue. (1)

Minsk Announces Debt Deal with Russia.