TROUBLED OIL-FOR-SUGAR DEAL WITH CUBA.

Russia’s foreign trade minister said May 17 that the Russian government would step in and terminate a crumbling oil-for-sugar trade deal with Cuba if the Russian company involved in the deal — Alfa-Eco — cannot resolve its differences with the Cuban side. He suggested that Moscow would not permit a failed commercial deal to become a political scandal between the two countries. (Itar-Tass, May 17; also see Monitor, May 7)

Ukraine May Get Compensation for Tactical Nuclear Warheads.