RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION SEEN AS WAY STATION FROM USSR TO RUSSIAN EMPIRE.

Writing in the weekend edition of the government mouthpiece Respublika, Foreign Minister Ivan Antanovich lamented “the dissolution of the USSR as a great historic tragedy” and described the Russia-Belarus Union as a step toward restoring a “renewed and more viable power.” According to Antanovich, Russia and Belarus are reviving “the thousand-year-old tradition of Russian state-building, aiming to create a mighty great power on a large territory.” The minister admitted that the project has come up against resistance, which he blamed on “those who wished the USSR ill and who do not wish to see something similar taking shape.” (Russian agencies, June 5)

UKRAINE SECURITY ROLE.