YELTSIN-KUCHMA MEETING POSTPONED.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has postponed the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kuchma, which was to have been held in the first half of this month in Crimea. Yeltsin informed Kuchma about the postponement in a message yesterday. The “no-necktie summit” is now planned tentatively for July, but no date has been set. Announcing the Kremlin’s decision, foreign policy coordinator Sergei Yastrzhembsky claimed that Yeltsin’s schedule is busy this month with visits to Russia’s regions at the request of regional leaders. (Russian agencies, June 3)

The more likely–and, from a Ukrainian standpoint, more disturbing–reason behind the Kremlin’s decision is the persistence of disagreements on bilateral issues across the board. Those differences were frankly aired during Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov’s visit to Kyiv last week (see The Monitor, May 29).

PROGRESS IN UKRAINE-VATICAN RELATIONS.