#1
Russia Denounces US Senate Decision on Test Ban Treaty.


MOSCOW, October 14 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has denounced the decision of the 
Senate of the U.S. Congress, which voted on Wednesday against the 
ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). 


Americans have challenged the regime of control over armaments, their 
restriction and reduction, established in a number of international 
agreements. 


This view was expressed by former secretary to the Security Council of the 
Russian Federation Andrei Kokoshin in a live programme of the "Ekho Moskvy" 
(Echo of Moscow) radio station on Thursday. 


He regards the refusal of the Senate of the U.S. Congress to ratify the 
treaty as "a strong blow at global strategic stability in the world." 


In his view, this means "a departure of the United States from the 1972 
Treaty on the restriction of anti-missile defence, which is one of the 
cornerstones of strategic stability in the world. 


"It is still far from a nuclear apocalypse," Andrei Kokoshin noted. In his 
view, a number of international agreements, including Russo-American accords, 
"ensure rather a high level of strategic stability." 

#4
Russia: Official Says Russia Not 100% Ready for Y2K  


ST. PETERSBURG. Oct 13 (Interfax-Northwest) -- 
Russia will not be able to 100% prepare for the Y2K problem, deputy 
secretary of the Russian Security Council Vladislav Sherstyuk has told 
Interfax. However, the beginning of the year 2000 will not cause 
technological 
disasters. 


Sherstyuk spoke of the global nature of the Y2K problem and said "the subject 
is closely controlled by the Russian government and president." 
He said that the government commission led by Deputy Prime Minister 
Ilya Klebanov "has developed fundamental approaches to the problem in 
Russia." 


He said that special attention is paid to such sensitive areas as 
transport, defense, communications, space and banking. 


Sherstyuk said that due to a shortage in financing, it will be impossible to 
fully resolve the problem; "for some time certain spheres will be moved 
from computer-aided operations to others." 


He refused to name the specific sum necessary to prepare Russia for the 
new millenium, but did not deny foreign reports about the 40% readiness 
of Russia at the beginning of the year 2000. 


In the context of information security, he said information wars are 
inevitable. As an example, he named the propaganda confrontation between 
Russian federal forces and Chechnya. 


According to Sherstyuk, Moscow "took into account the sad experience of 
1994-1996." Today the victory is with the federal side, he said. 
He came to St. Petersburg for a conference on the information security 
of Russian provinces. 

#5
St. Petersburg Times
October 15, 1999
Western Brand Names Top Wish List
By Yevgenia Borisova
STAFF WRITER


MOSCOW - Have you ever wondered what Russia's favorite brand names are?


Borjomi mineral water, Panasonic videos and Kodak cameras appear to be at the 
top of the list, according to results of a People's Mark poll organized by 
the Moscow-based PECOM research center.


Russian brands won only two of 16 categories of consumer goods in the 
People's Mark survey results announced Tuesday.


Zolotoi Yarlyk cocoa and Ural motorcycle won their categories in the poll 
conducted through the popular dailies Izvestia and Komsomolskaya Pravda. 
Readers sent 28,612 replies to questions about which items they believed to 
be the best. They were free to insert any brand name in the spaces.


Borjomi mineral water also won first place in its group, although the brand 
is now controlled by the French company Georgian Glass & Mineral Waters. 
Borjomi has been a well-known and popular brand since Soviet times.


Second places were won by Russian products Krestyanskoye butter, Narzan 
mineral water and Zenit cameras. Saint Springs mineral water and Tsvety 
Rossii soup won third places. Pemolux cleaning powder won a second place in 
one category and a third place in another.


Overall, out of 18 brands listed as the top three in six categories of 
durable goods, only two were Russian. Among the six food categories the 
proportion was different - five Russian brands were among 18 brands in the 
top three.


Among the western brands winners were Panasonic videos, Sony audio players, 
Bosch vacuum cleaners, Kodak cameras, Energizer batteries, Adidas sport 
clothes, Safeguard soap, Comet cleaning powder, Fairy dish washing liquid, 
Lays potato chips, Maggie broth cubes, Rama margarine, Oleina oil, Gillette 
razors and Levante pantyhose.


The results of the competition raised some experts' eyebrows. For example, 
Russian cocoa, produced at Krasny Oktyabr's Moscow factory since 1903, won 
despite having spent nothing on advertising this year, while competitor 
Nesquik spent about $1 million, according to Gallup estimates quoted by 
Vedomosti newspaper.


"There is no direct link between the number of ads and the popularity of an 
item," said Nikita Yemets, public relations manager for the Politics, Economy 
and Marketing research institute, or PECOM. "What matters is good history, 
traditions and cost-effectiveness."


He said that many Russians prefer Russian-made food items and western brands 
produced in Russia for their relatively low cost.


"Preferences in food items are more flexible," Yemets said. "You can't eat 
the same food all the time, but for durable goods the situation is different. 
Russian technologies are still behind the West and traditionally Russians 
prefer Western-made durable items. But the market is clearly being captured 
by those who manufacture goods here, including the West's Danone, Nestle or 
Unilever."


The winners of the competition were granted a special certificate and a 
People's Mark sign - a thumbs up in a circle - which they are allowed to use 
on their packaging and promotion materials for two years.


However, wishful thinking - the aim of the PECOM competition was to define an 
ideal brand - and reality are different. Comcon marketing company conducted 
their own research Russia-wide on consumption in the first half of 1999 in 
the same categories as PECOM with only one exception - it did not list 
motorcycles but had tape recorders fitted with radios instead.


The respondents answered the following question: "Which of the brands listed 
below did you use/eat/drink most often in the past three months?"


The results showed that two thirds of the food items consumed were made in 
Russia.

#6
Russia Today
October 12, 1999 


Enough Already! 
By Mikhail Ivanov and Paul Richardson 
Mikhail Ivanov is Executive Editor and 
Paul Richardson is Publisher and Editor of Russian Life magazine, online at 
http://www.russian-life.com This column is available weekly on Russia Today, 
at the Russian Life website and via email (information at the Russian Life 
website).


A sampling of the Western media smorgasbord this last week could not but 
leave a bad taste in one's mouth about what is going on in Russia. The week 
started with a sensational story on 60 Minutes about drug resistant TB in 
Russian prisons. All through the week, we heard about Russian atrocities in 
Chechnya ... the Bank of New York money laundering scandal ... Russian 
hackers who were found to be at the root of attacks on US Defense Department 
computers ... Then the week was capped by news that Russian President Boris 
Yeltsin was hospitalized yet again ...


Could it be true that all Western readers want to hear is an assortment of 
macabre news on Russia ranging from the bad to the very bad? Judge for 
yourself.


Let's take the example of the venerable RFE/RL Newsline. This free, daily 
email report is respected by many as an independent source of news on Russia. 
It is comprised of brief news items about politics and society in Russia and 
is distributed by email around the world. (for more info, check out the 
website: http://www.rferl.org/newsline) Generally, we like Newsline's 
reportage and find it to be a good source of information. But the October 6 
report seemed to exemplify all that is wrong about Western reporting on 
Russia today.


The Newsline report on Russia for October 6 consisted of 16 news items. Of 
these, six concerned Chechnya, two were on the unraveling banking scandals, 
two were on Russian objections to the ABM treaty modification, two were 
rather innocuous reportages of appearances by Prime Minister Putin, one was 
about the long-bearded Skuratov scandal, another was about former Krasnoyarsk 
governor Valery Zubov, suspected of criminal activities, who is running for 
the Duma, and the final piece was about increased incidences of AIDS in some 
Russian regions.


If this were all our news diet consisted of, we would be inclined to drink 
ourselves into oblivion.


It is not that the reportage is overwhelmingly negative or counter-factual. 
It is simply that it seems to selectively focus on what is bad. The intent, 
it might be argued, is to report the "real" or "hard" news - the "dog bites 
man" kind of stuff. But somewhere along the way, bad news was mistaken for 
"hard" news and good news is become just too "soft" and squishy for "serious" 
news organizations.


Do Russians go to theaters? Do they really love their children? Is there any 
economic activity going on in Russia that does not involved money-laundering? 
Do Russians do anything else besides stubbornly persecuting poor Chechen 
field commanders who "allegedly" planted bombs in Moscow? Are all Russians 
dying from AIDS or hepatitis or drug resistant TB?


When was the last time you saw a positive, insightful, balanced television 
news report on Russia? Think back now ...


So what good news was there to report? Well, here are a few news items that, 
as far as we can tell, went largely unreported in the Western media, but 
which broke at the same time as all this other "hard" news.


* The respected US consulting firm McKinsey stated that 75% of the Russian 
economy can produce goods up to international standards.


* For the first time ever, the New York Museum of Abstract Expressionism is 
holding an exhibition in Moscow. This is the first such exhibit from the US 
to Russia since the Balkan war.


* Work carried out at the resurrected Christ the Savior Cathedral is on 
schedule and the first Orthodox Service will be held there to commemorate the 
New Year.


* Economic growth and a decrease in business-to-business barter deals are 
pushing up tax collections, said Tax Minister Alexander Pochinok. September's 
tax proceeds exceeded targets by 28%, at 29.49 bn rubles.


* Russia's Pensions Fund has finally completed its long running struggle to 
pay off billions of rubles in arrears to the elderly, fund officials said.


* On its one-year anniversary in Russia, MTV appears to have become a smash 
hit with Russian youth. Stations across the country say they want their MTV.


* Subway, the fastest-growing fast-food chain in the world has opened its 
third Moscow restaurant. The company said it expects to open three more in 
the city.


* Despite the terrorist attacks that have rocked Moscow, the Marriot Grand 
Hotel reports that it has experienced its best month since August 1998.


It is almost as if the Western press gorged itself on feel-good stories about 
Russia in the early 1990s. Now, with recent "complications" (defined as 
differences of opinion with the West, as well as events brought on by stupid 
political and economic decisions), the media has. The desire for "hard" news 
focuses attention on scandals, problems and errors, providing a 
unidimensional picture that ignores the rich texture that is life in any 
country.


None of this is to downplay the bad news, because it needs to be reported. 
People are dying in Chechnya. Russians have been looted by their government. 
Health care issues are truly serious and need to be addressed.


And this is also not a call for news sifted through rose-colored glasses, for 
a return to the feel-good days of perestroika-boosterism. It is simply a call 
for balance. For more complex, subtle coverage that does not play to 
simplistic stereotypes. That kind of stuff belongs to a bygone age, when 
Radio Liberty and Radio Moscow were engaged in propaganda warfare.


And we're all a bit old for that kind of thing, aren't we?

#7
The Russia Journal
October 11-17, 1999
Conflict means more funding for military
Government promises increased spending
By VLADISLAV KOMAROV 
 
Military officials say the government has approved extra funds for equipment. 
 
In the wake of military action in Dagestan, defense spending is set to rise, 
Defense Ministry officials said.


The Defense Ministry required an extra 2.5 billion rubles ($100 million) from 
the budget in September for operations in Dagestan, according to Col. Gen. 
Georgy Oleinik, head of the ministry's budget and financing department. "The 
government agreed, but the money is coming at the expense of other budget 
items," Oleinik said.


"The State Duma (lower house of parliament) is discussing a draft law on 
additional defense expenditure of about 10 billion rubles ($400 million)," he 
added. 


Oleinik said that the defense industry is "showing new signs of life - and 
it's a welcome sight." Over the first nine months of 1999, he said, the 
military received funds for 45 percent of planned annual expenditures for 
military research and development and military hardware purchases.


"This is much better than in previous years, when the government managed to 
fund even less of the projected military expenditure," Oleinik added. 


For all of 1998, army weaponry chief Col. Gen. Anatoly Sitnov said, the 
military received "only half" of what it was promised. "Today, the government 
says it will make money available as soon as possible so that we can not only 
pay in full for our armament orders, but also have some additional funds for 
further orders."


A Defense Ministry official said that the additional funds would be used to 
provide troops - in particular, those in the North Caucasus - with "a wide 
range of reconnaissance and surveillance equipment, night vision equipment, 
new types of guns and grenades, including new sniper rifles." 


Sitnov said that the additional funding would enable the army to purchase and 
test newly developed hardware - such as night-operations helicopters, 
multipurpose vehicles and body armor - in the war zone. 


The military is keen to get maximum profit from the government's increased 
show of attention. Speaking at a press conference late last month, Oleinik 
said that "the Defense Ministry is in disagreement with the Finance Ministry 
for not including all of its proposals in the draft budget for 2000." 


One factor in the military's favor is that it receives general support in the 
State Duma lower house of parliament. Most legislators who voted against the 
draft budget Sept. 28 said they did so because, among other reasons, it 
failed to adequately cover defense needs. 


"The events in the Northern Caucasus, Russian peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo 
and increased financing for Russia's nuclear forces mean the country has to 
increase military spending," said Duma Defense Committee Deputy Chairman 
Nikolai Bezborodov, an air force major general. "What's more, the government 
now owes over 4 billion rubles to the military in salaries alone." 


"Another issue is the 52 billion rubles ($2.8 billion) in arrears to defense 
industries, transporters, telecom services, energy, food and uniform 
suppliers," he added. "But the 2000 budget has no provisions for these items."


Deputies from various parties, including the Communists (KPRF), the Agrarians 
and Grigory Yavlinsky's Yabloko, concurred with that view. Even Vladimir 
Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), which generally supported the 
2000 budget, has called for increased funding for the army, the Federal 
Security Service (FSB) and the police. 


"We can find one, or three or four billion rubles for this purpose. We should 
give as much as necessary," said Duma Geopolitics Committee Chairman Alexei 
Mitrofanov of the LDPR.


Government officials, including Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, said they 
believe that the parliamentary election campaign is behind Duma deputies' 
statements. 


"Law enforcement and defense already stand to receive the most money next 
year," Kasyanov said. "They will get 25 percent of total spending - a hefty 
sum. Social spending is only 15 percent of the total, while regional and 
local budgets will get a mere 8 percent." 


Despite Kasyanov's statements, military expenditure is increasing. 


"Both the Defense Ministry and Duma deputies see the 2000 military budget as 
insufficient, while the Finance Ministry regards it as excessive. That's an 
understandable point of view," said Vadim Solovyov, executive editor of the 
Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye (Independent Military Review) weekly 
newspaper.


"What is clear is that Russia will spend as much as it can on defense, but it 
will not give in to what specific individuals demand it to spend," Solovyov 
added. "This will be the situation as long as there is at least a semblance 
of democracy in this country."

#8
Russia: IMF Threatens To Refuse Loans For Spending On Chechnya War
By Sophie Lambroschini


The IMF issued a warning to Russia yesterday, saying it will continue to 
release agreed loans but that this aid will be suspended if military spending 
increases too much. But no one really doubts that Russia will increase its 
military spending. RFE/RL correspondent Sophie Lambroschini reports that 
lawmakers and analysts are working their calculators to figure out how much 
the Chechen war will cost -- and how to pay for it. 


Prague, 14 October 1999 (RFE/RL) -- Russian authorities may think that the 
war in Chechnya is indispensable from a geopolitical point of view -- or a 
pre-electoral point of view. But Russia's flailing economy could surely do 
without it. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Russia 
against increased military spending, Russian media and experts are playing 
guessing games about how much the war will actually cost. 


The director of the IMF, Michel Camdessus, said yesterday that the fund might 
limit its aid to Moscow because of the war in Chechnya. He said the IMF would 
continue to release agreed loans to Russia. But he said the aid will be 
suspended if military spending surges.


Reacting to Camdessus's statement, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today 
the military operation in Chechnya is being financed by a budget surplus. He 
said the military expenses are not linked in any way to the IMF loans. 


The generally accepted figure for Russia's budget surplus, however, is only 
the equivalent of about $3 million. The last Chechen war cost more than $5 
billion. 


Camdessus avoided commenting on the war, saying on French radio that the role 
of the IMF is to judge only a country's economic policy. He said IMF loans 
will be interrupted, in his words, "if the budget overshoots because of an 
uncontrolled increase of military spending."


The IMF was sharply criticized a few years ago for indirectly financing the 
first Chechen campaign, from 1994 to 1996. The fund has refused to lend to 
other countries because of their spending on military campaigns -- earlier 
this month, it postponed a loan to Zimbabwe because of that country's 
involvement in the Congo conflict.


Mikhail Delyagin, a policy analyst based in Moscow, told RFE/RL last week 
that Russian authorities do not anticipate that the cost of the Chechen 
conflict will be very great. Delyagin said: "The Russian armed forces will 
just do what they know how to do -- scrimp and save on the backs of the 
Russian soldiers." 


Already, some media reports say that in some units, soldiers are fed only 
twice a day. In a recent report from his Institute for Globalization 
Problems, Delyagin says the soldiers have not been paid for a month. 


But he also says this second Chechen war could be waged much more cheaply 
than the first. According to his calculations, establishing and maintaining 
the sanitary zone in parts of Chechnya and along the border would cost less 
than a quarter of what the first war cost. That will only be true, however, 
if the army stops at the sanitary zone in northern Chechnya. A push to Grozny 
could be very costly, Delyagin says.


And peace with Chechnya would be a lot cheaper, he says, citing figures that 
Russia spent a mere $200 million on the province during the first half of 
1999, including expenses for gas, electricity, and pensions.


An analysis in one Russian magazine, however, came to the opposite 
conclusion. Peace with Chechnya is more expensive than war, says the Russian 
weekly Kommersant-Vlast. To come to this controversial result, the newspaper 
takes into account the alleged damage done by the Chechen mafia before the 
current conflict. It estimates losses through forgeries and thefts of cars 
and livestock allegedly committed by Chechen bandits.


Putting a reliable price-tag on the war or the peace seems an impossible 
task. But improvising new financial sources seems even more of a challenge. 


When drawing up the 1999 budget, lawmakers had already counted on aid from 
the IMF to boost their estimated revenues. The parliamentary-government 
commission that has been working on a compromise for Russia's year 2000 
budget has settled on a 25 percent increase for the military. That brings the 
military's budget to one-fifth of the total Russian budget of $23 billion. 


Viktor Gerashenko, the head of the Central Bank, said this week that Russia 
may issue war bonds. There is also talk of increasing taxes on Russian oil 
companies, which are said to be doing quite well since world oil prices 
recovered this year. 


In any case, analysts agree that military strategy seems to blot out the 
voice of economic reason. The English-language daily Moscow Times quoted one 
economist as saying: "If they (the government) don't have the money, they'll 
print money."   

#9
Jamestown Foundation Monitor
14 October 1999


RUSSIAN MILITARY POLICIES DRAW CRITICISM FROM THE WEST. Russia has in
recent days continued to take heat from the European Union both for
Moscow's escalating military operations in the Caucasus
and--apparently--for related pressures to increase substantially the
Russian defense budget. In a speech to EU parliamentarians in Helsinki on
October 12, Finnish Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen warned Moscow that its
ongoing offensive against Chechen rebels and its failure to meet human
rights obligations more generally could impede the building of stronger
Russian-EU ties. Finland is currently EU chairman and will play host next
week to an important Russian-EU summit.


Halonen's remarks suggested that the summit could be a contentious one. In
addition to chiding Moscow for its war in Chechnya, she also called on
Russia to forego ambitions of remaining a world power. "Economic realities
will compel Russia to abandon hopes of remaining a global great power and
to be content with a role as an important European actor," she was quoted
as saying. "It is up to Russia herself to decide how she wants to avail
herself of this opportunity" (Reuters, October 13).


Halonen's admonitions come as politically resurgent military hardliners in
Russia appear at last to be making progress in their longstanding efforts
to win increases in defense spending. The generally hawkish mood in Moscow
these days--one enthusiastically embraced by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
and a number of top lawmakers--has also been reflected in the drafting of a
military doctrine which in some ways hearkens back to the Cold War period.
The document is said to be strikingly anti-Western. It also describes an
international environment full of potential threats to Russia's national
security. The inference is said to be clear that Russia must rearm to a
degree which would allow it to counter not only a potential attack by NATO,
but also the danger of local and regional conflicts along its borders
(Reuters, October 12; see the Monitor, October 12).


Aside from the threat of destabilization posed by the Russian war in
Chechnya itself, these calls for increased military spending are becoming a
concern for those in the West who monitor the Russian government's economic
activities. The United States has already warned that spending on Chechen
military operations could undermine Russia's economic reform goals. 


That point was apparently made more sharply yesterday by IMF managing
director Michel Camdessus. He cautioned that IMF lending to Russia could be
suspended if the country's military spending surges. "If I see that the
budget is over-shooting because of an uncontrolled increase of military
spending, we shall interrupt our support," he was quoted as saying. The
remark drew a testy response from the Russian prime minister, who said that
Camdessus does not personally control fund disbursements. Vladimir Putin
also argued that the war in Chechnya would be paid out of additional budget
revenues which, in his words, "have nothing to do with the IMF money which
we use to repay earlier loans." He had admitted on October 11 that the
"military operation in the North Caucasus is putting additional pressures
on the budget" (AFP, Itar-Tass, October 13; Itar-Tass, October 11).


MOSCOW DIGS IN ITS HEELS ON ARMS CONTROL. In the immediate aftermath of
NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, there were signs that Moscow intended to
mend its relations with the West. That at least seemed to be the Kremlin's
aim during a meeting of the Russian and U.S. presidents in Cologne in June,
and again during a brief visit by then Russian Prime Minister Sergei
Stepashin to Washington in late July. Although discussions held during
those meetings appeared to be a matter more of form than substance, they
appeared at least to be pointing the two sides in a positive direction.


But whatever small momentum was garnered during that period appears more
recently to have dissipated. This has been evident in a number of areas,
including continued tensions between Russia and the West over Kosovo,
between Moscow and both Washington and London over Iraq, and between Russia
and the United States over the recent banking scandal as well as a host of
arms control issues. Russia's war in the Caucasus and the increasing
jingoism in Moscow are only the latest irritants.


That Russia remains uninterested in any quick reconciliation with NATO, and
that Russian-U.S. differences on key arms control issues are unlikely to be
surmounted any time soon, was suggested in a recent interview by Russia's
foreign minister and in comments by Russian diplomats. In the interview,
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov continued to describe NATO as an unwelcome
relic of the Cold War and an organization which Moscow deals with only
because it has little choice. He also continued to blame NATO for having
ruptured relations with Russia when it launched the air strikes on
Yugoslavia. He said that NATO-Russian relations might finally move forward
at a meeting next month of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, but implied that increased cooperation would take place only on
Russia's terms. 


Russian Foreign Ministry officials were more adamant on arms control
issues. They suggested that Russian diplomats will push hard for lawmakers
to ratify the START II treaty before the December parliamentary elections.
That is a move eagerly sought by Washington, but the manner in which the
Foreign Ministry will apparently try to sell the treaty may not be.
According to the officials, the Foreign Ministry will argue that START II
ratification would greatly strengthen Russia's international standing as a
proponent of nuclear disarmament. That, in turn, they said, will boost
Moscow's efforts to present U.S. ballistic missile defense plans--and
Washington's challenges to the ABM treaty--as a threat to international
peace and to global disarmament. Russian ratification of START II, the
diplomats were quoted as saying, "could seriously undermine the position of
those in the USA who favor a reexamination of the ABM treaty with the goal
of starting deployment of a national ballistic missile defense system." 


The diplomats also underlined their belief that Russia has by no means been
defeated yet in the negotiations with Washington over the ABM treaty. They
suggested that Moscow would continue to push for a UN General Assembly
resolution which would condemn any US withdrawal from the ABM treaty as a
threat to strategic stability. In that same vein, Ivanov intimated that
Moscow hopes also to make the United States pay diplomatically for what
will be presented as Washington's destruction of the START I and START II
accords--and of strategic arms control in general (Nezavisimaya gazeta,
Russian agencies, October 12). Recent political commentary out of European
capitals--with regard to Washington's repudiation both of the ABM accord
and of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty--suggest that Moscow could score
some significant diplomatic gains on these issues.

#10
Moscow Times
October 14, 1999 
DEFENSE DOSSIER: Army's Anti-West Mandate 
By Pavel Felgenhauer 


Last week the Defense Ministry published the draft text of Russia's new 
military doctrine, a document that defines military threats to the country. 
High-ranking officials say that President Boris Yeltsin will sign this draft 
into law sometime next month and that Russia will finally have a military 
doctrine after an almost six-year delay. 


The current Russian Constitution stipulates that the Russian Federation have 
a military doctrine. The previous provisional military doctrine was signed 
into law in November 1993, before the present constitution came into effect. 
Kremlin and Defense Ministry officials have for years claimed that a proper 
military doctrine should be adopted "as soon as possible." Russian generals 
have for many years pointed out that without a new defense doctrine they 
could not proceed properly with long overdue military reforms. 


Yeltsin's national security adviser for many years, Yury Baturin, told me in 
1994 that "a military doctrine will be finalized in the very near future. The 
Russian constitution demands this and we cannot stall anymore." 


However, years passed and nothing happened. The main reason was - as it 
always is in Moscow - infighting between different executive branches of 
government. The Defense Ministry believed that the drafting of Russia's 
military doctrine was its sole responsibility, while Kremlin security 
officials held other opinions. 


As time passed, defense ministers and chiefs of Russia's Security Council 
were replaced. A Defense Council with Yeltsin as chairman was created and 
later disbanded. Baturin left the Kremlin and went into space on the Mir 
space station. And all this time the silent battle over Russia's military 
doctrine continued nonstop, but with no clear winner. 


Recently the situation has changed. The Defense Ministry has outlived its 
Kremlin opponents. Today Yeltsin does not have a defense or national security 
adviser at all. The Security Council cannot be disbanded because the 
constitution says it should exist. But since Vladimir Putin was promoted to 
prime minister last August, the Security Council has not gotten a new chief 
and its overall decision-making power has been grossly diminished. 


Obviously, generals in the Defense Ministry have assumed that now is a good 
time to push through a military doctrine of their liking. The currently 
published draft was ready a year ago, when Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev 
went on a worldwide tour to promote the new military doctrine. 


Last October in Beijing, while speaking at the Chinese National Defense 
Academy, Sergeyev declared that "in the event of a direct threat to the 
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia, as a result of an act of 
aggression, Moscow will consider it possible and lawful to use all available 
means of defense, including nuclear weapons." 


In 1981, General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev declared that the Soviet Union 
would never be the first to use nuclear weapons in time of war. In the late 
1980s, President Mikhail Gorbachev reinstated this "no first use" principle. 


The main feature of the new draft military doctrine is the full abandonment 
of this "no first use" principle. The new draft doctrine states that nuclear 
weapons can be used "in response to large-scale aggression involving 
conventional arms" and "in situations critical for the national security of 
Russia and its allies." A "situation critical for national security" can mean 
almost anything. Whether to use nukes will be left to the discretion of 
Russia's military and political decision-makers. No doctrine will stand in 
their way. 


Of course, in Russia, as in many other countries, vaguely worded strategic 
concepts and doctrines are seldom actually used in everyday decision making. 
However, the new draft military doctrine is still important as an indicator 
of widespread anti-western opinions inside Russia's military elite. The 
outright anti-westernism of the published draft is also the most likely 
reason it has not been signed into law for more than a year. 


The draft doctrine's publication before its official approval by Yeltsin is 
highly unusual for Russian bureaucratic procedure. The publication is a clear 
attempt by Russian military chiefs to twist the Kremlin's hand into signing a 
document the West will see as confrontational. 


The end result of this experiment in openness by the Defense Ministry will be 
a good indication that Russian policies are finally and resolutely turning 
against the West. 


Pavel Felgenhauer is an independent Moscow-based defense analyst.

#11
Strategic Stability Essential to START- Lavrov.


UNITED NATIONS, October 14 (Itar-Tass) - The strategic arms reduction treaty 
(START) can have the most favourable prospects in conditions of lasting 
strategic stability, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergei 
Lavrov, said addressing the committee of the UN General Assembly on 
Wednesday. 


He said Russia "consistently calling for reduction and restriction of nuclear 
arsenals, conscientiously meets its obligations in keeping with the START-1 
treaty". 


"We see as important the task of ratification of START-2 and other accords 
relevant to this treaty by the Russian Federel Assembly (parliament) and of 
the fulfilling by the Senate of the US Congress of procedures for their 
ratification," Lavrov said. 


He cited dangers of proliferation and sophistication of missiles and miissile 
technologies, adding that Russia "is solidary with the efforts taken by many 
countries to consolidate the regime of missile non-proliferation". 


"On our part, we propose creating a global system for control of 
non-proliferation of missiles and missile technologies, which would in 
particualr envisage a regime of notification about launches of ballistic 
missiles," Lavrov said. 


Speaking of the need to retain the arms reduction treaties intact, Lavrov 
said Russia opposes attemps "to revise or dilute the treaty on 
non-proliferation of nuclear weapons under any pretext, put in doubt the 
decision on its permanent and unconditional prolongation". 


"We deem important to undertake joint acts with the purpose of the possibly 
rapid comig into force of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. We call 
for the joining of the nuclear test ban treaty of India and Pakistan in the 
capacity of non-nuclear states and of other countries that so far have not 
done so and whose participation in the treaty is now necessary for its coming 
into force," Lavrov said. 


This day, "a main menace to the world is coming from militant nationalism, 
separatism, terrorism and extremism that, knowing no borders, are already 
carrying death and destruction". 


With this in mind, the problem of proliferation of light and small arms 
should be central at various forums, Lavrov said. 


"The UN should play a leading role in prevention and restriction of the 
uncontrolled spread of light and small arms," Lavrov said. 


He said a first step in this direction could be blocking the traffic in small 
arms. 


These illegal supplies are a major source of light and small arms for bands, 
the criminal element and exteremists, Lavrov said.

#12
Russia's Relations With NATO Still Frozen  


ITAR-TASS Moscow, 12th October: "Apart from the Kosovo and 
Bosnian peacekeeping operations, our relations with NATO are still in a 
frozen state at the moment." This was particularly stressed today by the 
Russian Foreign Ministry's official representative, Vladimir Rakhmanin, 
as he commented on the statement made yesterday by the new NATO 
secretary-general, George Robertson, about the bloc's "Russian policy". 


Addressing a news briefing, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's 
information and press department pointed out that "trust was dealt a 
serious blow" by the events in Kosovo and NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. 
"That trust has to be restored, and this should be done with Russia's 
interests being taken into account by strengthening European security," 
the diplomat observed. "One of the central elements here will be 
November's OSCE summit in Istanbul and the consideration of a European 
security charter at it."

#13
Implications of N Caucasus Operations for CFE Treaty  


MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax) - A new North Caucasus 
aspect has appeared in recent weeks in the negotiations on the CFE treaty 
adaptation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin told a 
Tuesday briefing in Moscow. 


"Guided by supreme security interests, Russia is using in the operation to 
stop large-scale terrorist activities in the North Caucasus military 
district forces exceeding the limits set by the CFE treaty for a flank 
area," he said. 


In compliance with its commitments, Russia duly notified all CFE treaty 
sides, Rakhmanin said. 


Russia hopes that the signatory countries "will show understanding of the 
present situation, especially as our actions in the region are clearly 
temporary and forced," he said. 


Rakhmanin said that the CFE adaptation talks are nearing completion. Like 
other negotiators, the Russian side believes that the OSCE summit in 
Istanbul in November should mark "the formation of a qualitatively new, 
more effective mode of controlling conventional forces in Europe." 
He said the Russian adaptation initiatives "are aimed at improving the 
package of documents under work" to be discussed at the summit.
 

#14
Russian Press on Chechnya, SPEAKER'S Choice, Tariffs.


MOSCOW, October 15 (Itar-Tass) - Follows a brief review of some Russian 
newspapers dated Friday, October 15. 


NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA writes about what it calls a new tactics of federal 
troops in Chechnya. "If the Kremlin manage to eliminate (Chechen warlord 
Shamil) Basayev it would be comparable with the operation of Russian secret 
services who eliminated (Chechen President) Dzhokhar Dudayev," the daily 
writes commenting on reports of Russian military who claimed they had 
cornered Basayev in the settlement of Garagorsky some 30 kilometres from 
Grozny. 


ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA carries an interview with Col.-Gen. Georgy Oleinik, 
director of the Defence Ministry's Main Department for military budget and 
finance. The interview focuses on Russia's spending on the war against the 
international terrorism and payments to servicemen among other issues. 


IZVESTIA cites chairman of the State Customs Committee (SCC) Mikhail Vanin as 
claiming that up to 40 percent of imported goods are smuggled into Russia. 
Vanin said that as a rule, importers declare improperly prices, weight and 
quantity of goods that come from abroad. "Our tariff is detailed and academic 
but it has nothing to do with reality, and it does not work," he said 
branding the customs business as becoming "one of the most criminalized" in 
Russia. 


KOMMERSANT comments on Thursday political sensation where Duma speaker 
Gennady Seleznyov announced he will run for governor of the Moscow region. 
While the Communist party secretary for ideology Alexande Kravets believes a 
victory "will seriously boost positions of the Communist party in the 
executive branch of power and in the Federation Council," former prime 
minister Sergei Stepashin branded the move as "lacking respect to the 
electors." Seleznyov originally planned to run for the lower house of 
parliament from a St.Petersburg constituency together with Stepashin. 
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA believes Seleznyov should apologize before the residents 
of St.Petersburg who collected more then 100,000 signatures in his support as 
a candidate to the State Duma. 


SEGODNYA publishes an interview with Kursk governor Alexander Rutskoy. The 
former vice president said he is an "vigorous enemy of parliament's 
politicization." "It is inexpedient to elect candidates from political 
parties. They should be elected from Russia's regions only and represent 
interests of their regions in the national parliament," Rutskoy said. 


KRASNAYA ZVEZDA brings an interview with Lt.-Gen. Vladimir Chilindin, 
commander of the CIS peacekeeping forces in Tajikistan. The general believes 
that "the humanitarian aid is the main aspect of peacekeepers activities in 
Tajikistan today." He also expressed concern that not all units of the former 
united opposition have been disarmed so far. Many people continue to keep 
weapons which is "a time bomb" for the republic, the general noted.