YELTSIN AIDE THREATENS UKRAINE WITH RETALIATION.

Yeltsin foreignpolicy advisor Dmitri Ryurikov charged in the May 23 Kievskie vedomosti that”the Ukrainian government intends to form its relations with Russia on anegative basis, forgetting about the special character of relations.” That, hesaid, is “the main problem” between Moscow and Kiev. Professingdissatisfaction with Ukraine’s attitudes towards “the rights of those whoconsider themselves Russian citizens,” Ryurikov warned that Moscow may inretaliation reconsider the recent agreement on restructuring Ukraine’s debt.Ryurikov’s remarks came as Russian military authorities were saying that theymight not accept certain strategic bombers from Ukraine–part of the debtswap that Moscow had agreed to earlier–and as Ukrainian President LeonidKuchma was stepping up his campaign for NATO expansion during a visit toLatvia and Estonia.

German-Russian Tensions In Azov.