UKRAINE SEEKS TO JOIN CENTRAL EUROPEAN INITIATIVE.

Ukrainian prime minister Yevhen Marchuk is holding talks this week with his Slovak counterpart Vladimir Meciar at Strbske Pleso, a Tatra mountain retreat. Their talks will be devoted to bilateral relations and developing Ukraine’s ties with Central European countries. The agenda includes creation of a club of Central European prime ministers, regional free trade, and Ukraine’s desire to join the Central European Free Trade Association. At the January 19 CIS summit, Boris Yeltsin criticized Ukraine’s unwillingness to join multilateral arrangements among former Soviet republics. Kiev describes its policies as having many "vectors" while searching for regional alternatives to Russian economic domination. Ukraine has evidenced aspirations to join Central European club ever since former president Leonid Kravchuk sought acceptance into the Visegrad triangle of Poland, the former Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

Azerbaijan Welcomes Mobil Oil.