ISRAEL TO AID RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS.

The GAO report criticizing aspects of the Department of Energy’s aid programs to Russian military specialists was released as Israel announced plans of its own to support underfunded Russian scientists. Israeli Trade and Industry Minister Natan Sharansky, in Russia last week for talks with Kremlin leaders, said that Israel intended to “work to involve Russia in joint American-Israeli or even purely Israeli projects.” He provided few details of the Israeli plan, however. Like the established American programs, the Israeli effort would be aimed at funding peaceful projects for Russian military specialists so that they are not tempted to peddle their expertise abroad.

As his U.S. counterparts have done repeatedly, Sharansky praised Russian authorities for their efforts to improve Russian export controls, but also warned that those efforts were not getting the job done. He said that cooperation between Russian specialists and Iran–the area of technology transfer which most concerns Israel–is the result primarily of economic pressures on Russia’s post-Soviet scientific establishment. Proliferation issues were reportedly a major area of focus for Sharansky during his talks with Russian leaders (AP, Russian agencies, February 23).

U.S. SAYS NO TRANSFER OF NATO CODES TO GREECE.