KREMLIN WARNS LITHUANIA OVER IVANOV CASE.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Tarasov yesterday joined Duma hard-liners in protesting the one-year prison sentence pronounced by a Vilnius court against pro-Soviet activist Valery Ivanov. (See Monitor, July 16) Tarasov attributed the sentence to "strong pressure by Lithuanian forces seeking to cast a shadow over good-neighborly Russian-Lithuanian relations". The Russian government "expects the Lithuanian authorities" to release Ivanov on appeal, Tarasov said. (Russian agencies, July 17)

Internationalize Abkhazia Settlement Talks, U.S. Ambassador Advises.