DEFENSE SECRETARY PERRY TO MEET WITH SHMAROV, GRACHEV.

On January 5, US defense secretary William Perry will fly to Ukraine to meet with the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministers, Pavel Grachev and Valery Shmarov, for a discussion on nuclear disarmament. As agreed to yesterday in a telephone conversation between presidents Leonid Kuchma and Boris Yeltsin, the meeting will take place in Pershomaisk, Mykolaiv oblast, site of an ex-Soviet missile army headquarters. In related news, Kuchma had several words to say about the Russian election following his talk with Yeltsin. The Ukrainian leader found "nothing awful or unpredictable" about the results but said Ukraine must learn that the left is well organized. He had expected Viktor Chernomyrdin’s "Russia is Our Home" bloc to do better, however. (16)

Ukraine to Strengthen Hold On Serpents’ Island.