18:52
EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY COUNCIL ADOPTS BASIC DOCUMENTS
The Interstate Council of the Eurasian Economic Community has adopted basic documents to regulate its activities. This is said in a statement issued by the presidents of the Community's member states--Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Tajikistan More in detail...

18:33
PRESIDENT OF KAZAKHSTAN BECOMES FIRST CHAIRMAN OF EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been confirmed as the first chairman of the Eurasian Economic Community's interstate council by a CIS presidential summit meeting in the capital of Belarus More in detail...

18:24
LEADERSHIP OF EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY TO BE ELECTED AT MINSK SUMMIT
A meeting of the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Tajikistan will be held in Minsk on Thursday. These countries recently signed an agreement on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Community More in detail...

18:22
AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT DEPARTS FOR MINSK TO ATTEND CIS SUMMIT
Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev has departed for Minsk to attend a summit meeting of the Commonwealth of the Independent States. Before leaving Baku, Aliyev told journalists that he is to have a trilateral meeting with the presidents of Russia and Armenia on Thursday evening More in detail...

18:17
MINSK SESSION OF CIS FOREIGN MINISTERS COUNCIL OVER
A regular session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CIS, or the Commonwealth of the Independent States, has just ended in Minsk More in detail...

17:06
KUCHMA LEAVES FOR CIS SUMMIT IN MINSK
President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine has left Kiev for a summit of CIS leaders in Minsk. RIA Novosti learnt in the Ukrainian presidential administration on Thursday that Kuchma would hold a series of bilateral meetings with CIS heads More in detail...

16:40
PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA AND BELARUS TO TAKE PART IN CEREMONY OF LAYING FOUNDATION OF NEW RUSSIAN EMBASSY BUILDING IN MINSK
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko will take part in a ceremony of laying the foundation of the new building of the Russian embassy in Belarus Thursday More in detail...

16:14
RUSSIAN PREMIER ON INCIDENT IN THE COMPOUND OF THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN MINSK
Russian Prime-Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is confident that the incident in compound of the Russian Embassy in Minsk will not affect the course of the CIS summit which is opening there More in detail...

14:53
CIS FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS DRAFT MILITARY COOPERATION PROJECT UP TO 2005
The CIS Council of Foreign Ministers will discuss three major issues in Minsk Thursday as part of the CIS summit, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said as opening a Council session. More in detail...

14:06
SHANGHAI FORUM COUNTRIES TO SIGN CONVENTION ON JOINT FIGHT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
During a jubilee summit of the Shanghai Forum on June 15, 2001, a convention on joint fight against international terrorism is expected to be signed by the respective heads of state, reported Lidia Imanaliyeva, first deputy Foreign Minister of Kirghizia at a press conference in Bishkek on Thursday. The Shanghai forum includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kirghizia. More in detail...

13:40
GRENADE ATTACK ON RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN BELARUS
A hand grenade was thrown last night into the courtyard of the Russian Embassy in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. As a result of the blast, the embassy building’s walls were damaged. Happily, no one was injured. More in detail...

13:39
BELARUS EVALUATES INCIDENT NEAR RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN MINSK AS POLITICAL PROVOCATION
Belarussian law enforcers evaluate the incident on the territory of the Russian embassy in Minsk as a political provocation. More in detail...

13:26
POLICE SCHOOL HEADS FROM 20 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MEET IN MINSK
The heads of higher police schools of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have gathered in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, for the 9th conference devoted to the specifics of personnel training in the higher police schools of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the conditions of modern integration processes. The conference is beginning on Thursday. More in detail...

12:08
LEADERS OF EURASIAN COMMUNITY TO ENDORSE ITS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE ON THURSDAY
The first working meeting of the inter-state Council of the Eurasian Economic Community with the participation of the Presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazkahstan, Tajikistan and Kirghizia will be held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus on Thursday. More in detail...

11:16
RUSSIAN, ARMENIAN, AZERI PRESIDENTS TO DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a meeting of the Armenian and Azeri leaders slated for Thursday in Minsk. More in detail...

11:12
COMBAT ENGINEERS DESTROY ROCKET LAUNCHER FOUND IN MAKHACHKALA
A stationary rocket-launcher with which was found near the residence of Daghestani government members in Makhachkala, capital of Daghestan /a Russian constituent republic in the North Caucasus bordering on Chechnya/ on Thursday, has been destroyed by combat engineers who used hollow charges to explode it More in detail...

10:59
CIS LEADERS TO APPOINT MILITARY COORDINATION CHIEF AT MINSK SUMMIT
One of the key items on the agenda of the June 1 summit meeting of CIS leaders in Minsk is the appointment of chief of the military coordination headquarters. According to RIA Novosti's information, Russia opts for Vladimir Yakovlev, the ex-Commander-in-Chief of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces. More in detail...

10:42
CIS SUMMIT EXPECTED TO DECIDE ON RUSSIA'S PEACE-KEEPERS IN ABKHAZIA
The CIS leaders who have gathered for a CIS summit in Minsk, are expected to decide on extending the term of the collective peace-keeping forces' presence in Abkhazia's /a republic in Georgia/ conflict zone up to December 31, 2001. Deputy Chief of the Kremlin administration Sergei Prikhodko told a RIA Novosti correspondent that this issue stands on the agenda of the Georgian side. More in detail...

10:24
PUTIN, LUKASHENKO MAY DISCUSS BELARUS SITUATION BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
The situation in Belarus on the eve of the autumn presidential elections is likely to be discussed at the Putin-Lukashenko meeting within the CIS summit in Minsk on May 31-June 1, said a Kremlin dignitary. More in detail...

10:11
PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA, AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA AND GEORGIA TO DISCUSS FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM AND EXTREMISM
The presidents of countries party to the so-called Caucasian Four, i.e. Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, are to negotiate in Minsk today. According to RIA Novosti's sources, the four leaders intend to discuss regional security and cooperation, including the settlement of local conflicts and a joint crackdown on international terrorism and extremism. More in detail...

10:06
VLADIMIR PUTIN TO ATTEND SESSION OF CIS LEADERS IN MINSK
On Thursday, Vladimir Putin embarks on a trip to Minsk to attend a session of CIS leaders and hold a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings. More in detail...

05:14
LATVIA: OBSCURE LEAGUE OWNS UP DEPARTMENT STORE BLAST
The National Liberation Movement of Latvia owned up last year's blast in the Riga central department store as it circulated a statement in local media outlet offices today. More in detail...

04:25
U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENCE TO VISIT UKRAINE
Donald Ramsfeld, US Secretary of Defence, is intending an official visit to Ukraine on information confirmed by a Pentagon PR officer. More in detail...

02:34
RUSSIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND CIS COUNCIL SESSION
Igor Ivanov, Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, left the Hungarian capital for Minsk, Belarus, to attend tomorrow's session of the CIS foreign-ministerial council. More in detail...

02:28
U.S. DEFENCE SECRETARY'S VISIT TO UKRAINE ENTIRELY POLITICAL, SAY DIPLOMATS
The visit Donald Ramsfeld, US Secretary of Defence, will shortly pay to Ukraine will be "purely political", say diplomats in Washington. The visit is intended to prove US Administration support for the Ukrainian top, said an informed interviewee. More in detail...

01:26
UKRAINE TO INTEGRATE INTO EUROPE, FOREIGN MINISTER REASSURES NATO
Ukraine has firmly embarked on the democratic road, Anatoli Zlenko, Minister of Foreign Affairs, reassured his partners at a foreign-ministerial session of the NATO-Ukraine commission. A change of cabinet will not bring an U-turn of his country's policies, which it pursues as an European state, he stressed. More in detail...

00:57
ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TO JUMP AT CHANCE TO ACHIEVE PEACE?
At the moment, there is a good opportunity to achieve a breakthrough in the Nagorny Karabakh settlement, with the world's major powers highly interested in getting the conflict solved, said the leader of the Republic of Nagorny Karabakh, Arkady Gukasyan. More in detail...

20:18
RUSSIA'S NEW AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE HANDS IN HIS CREDENTIALS TO UKRAINIAN HEAD OF STATE
Russia's new ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, also holding the post of presidential commissioner for Russo-Ukrainian trade and economic relations in Ukraine, on Wednesday handed in his credentials to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma in the Mariinsky Palace More in detail...

18:48
PUTIN, LUKASHENKO DISCUSS UPCOMING CIS SUMMIT BY PHONE
The Presidents of Russia and Belarus had a telephone conversation Wednesday. Their conversation focused on the agenda of the forthcoming sessions of the Eurasian Economic Community's Interstate Council and the CIS Presidents' Council, slated for May 31 and June 1, 2001, respectively More in detail...

18:46
DELEGATION OF MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE VISITS KIEV
A delegation of the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates has visited Kiev to look into the position of the Church in Ukraine More in detail...