3 January 2005 -- Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia will respect Ukraine's sovereignty after its disputed presidential election and not interfere with Georgia's choice of allies.
2 January 2005 -- Turkmenistan has carried out its threat to cut off gas shipments to Ukraine and Russian, but has maintained the supplies will be renewed quickly if both countries agree to pay the higher prices Turkmenistan has set.
Russia wound up its latest -- and soon to be last -- batch of gubernatorial elections on 26 and 19 December 2004 with the expected results. A bevy of incumbents and candidates supported by the current party of power were reelected by the usual means -- physical attacks, last-minute court decisions, disqualifying their opponents, and the distribution of compromising materials in the press.
1 January 2005 -- More than 1,000 residents of Chechnya's war-ravaged capital celebrated New Year's today, dancing and singing around a holiday tree erected in the city center.
1 January 2005 -- Russia plans its first laws to crack down on industrial polluters next year.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has failed to reach agreement on continuing the monitoring of Georgia's border with Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Daghestan. Spokesman Richard Murphy said Russia vetoed a draft agreement to extend the mandate for another six months during a meeting today in Vienna.
Jailed former Yukos head Khodorkovskii (file photo) 28 December 2004 -- Jailed former Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovskii has accused the Kremlin of stealing his oil company by manipulating Russian law.
Yushchenko is being listened to closely in Moscow, Brussels, Washington... Now that opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko appears to have clinched a majority in the Ukrainian presidential vote, what are the likely implications for Ukraine's foreign policy and its relations with Russia --> /featuresarticle/2004/12/a8bf5663-42c4-457d-8a36-f785d47b7a2c.html and the West?
Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has dominated Ukraine's political life for a decade (file photo) As balloting ended last night in Ukraine’s presidential election, unofficial exit polls gave opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko a clear lead over his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Observers described the ballot as apparently free from the open fraud and manipulation that forced the cancellation of the previous vote in November. Yesterday’s ballot was a Supreme Court-mandated re-run of the second round of the election. Judges annulled the results of that vote after finding the results were rigged in favor of Yanukovych.
24 December 2004 -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today reiterated that Russia must return all four disputed Pacific islands seized in 1945 at the end of World War II.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan 25 years ago this month -- the first time since World War II that organized Soviet troops had been sent outside the bloc or Cuba. The fighting in Afghanistan -- which lasted 10 years -- devastated the country's infrastructure and left more than 1 million dead. Nearly 5 million refugees fled the fighting, and Afghans are still believed to represent the single largest refugee group in the world.
Putin aired his views on a number of topics (file photo) Prague, 23 December 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin today used his annual Kremlin press conference to address many of the issues that made headlines in Russia and abroad in 2004.
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