RUSSIA WINS PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT ON PARIS CLUB, WTO MEMBERSHIP.

Russian first deputy premier and finance minister Anatoly Chubais says tentative agreement has been reached for Russia to join the Paris Club of creditor nations by the end of this year and the World Trade Organization by the end of next year. Chubais was in Washington for talks with the finance ministers of the Group of Seven countries, the IMF, and the World Bank. (Financial Times, April 29; see Perspective item below)

Yeltsin Launches New Set of Reforms.