RUSSIAN FUEL AND ENERGY MINISTER RESIGNS.

President Boris Yeltsin yesterday accepted the resignation of Fuel and Energy Minister Petr Rodionov. One of a dwindling number of cabinet associates of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Rodionov had held the post less than a year. His ouster was apparently provoked by his failure to reach agreement with Chechen leaders over the transport of Caspian oil via Chechen territory to the Black Sea. The first task of Rodionov’s still unnamed successor will be to get the stalled talks moving. (Itar-Tass, April 8)

Russian Foreign Minister in Paris.