DUMA MEMBER FEARS THIRD WORLD WAR.

Duma defense committeemember Petr Romanov was quoted in this week’s Argumenty i fakty to the effect that "Russia will emerge from the presentcrisis with great difficulty if a third world war does not breakout first.: Romanov’s remarks were quoted in an article by AleksandrKondrashev who suggested that "the conflict in Chechnyais very similar to the Soviet-Finnish military conflict in 1939-40.Soldiers and commanders displayed the same heroism, while membersof the high command displayed the same incapacity. More important,both conflicts showed the world the weakness of our military." Kondrashev said that Turkey might be the country to take advantageof this situation and thus trigger a general war.

Kokoshin Warns Against Further Cuts in Defense Budget.