SEVEN IS ENOUGH, FOR NOW.

Russian minister of economics Yevgeny Yasin said yesterday that Russia was not yet ready for membership as a full economic partner in the G-7 and that Moscow should not "force open the door" in an attempt to get into the organization. Yasin, who added that he was expressing his personal opinion, said that Russia’s role in the G-7 would grow gradually in any event, and that the nation could aspire to full membership when it had overcome some of its chief economic difficulties. (Interfax, July 31)

Communist s to Drop Hammer and Sickle?