UKRAINE RATIFIES TREATY WITH RUSSIA. By a vote of 317 to 27, Ukrainian lawmakers ratified a friendship treaty with Russia on 14 January. President Leonid Kuchma and his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin, signed the treaty last May following years of bilateral disputes over the division of the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet. The document reaffirms the countries' borders and thereby reduces Moscow's chances of claiming Crimea or its port city Sevastopol, as several Russian politicians have advocated. The Ukrainian parliament has yet to consider ratifying several agreements on the fleet, which are expected to face considerable opposition among lawmakers. PB

YELTSIN PLEASED WITH RATIFICATION OF TREATY. Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembskii told Interfax on 14 January that Boris Yeltsin welcomed the "convincing ratification" of the treaty by the Ukrainian parliament and expects the Russian parliament to "give equally convincing support" to the document. The Russian State Duma is scheduled to consider the treaty in early February. Although Duma First Deputy Speaker Vladimir Ryzhkov predicted on 14 January that the treaty will be ratified, the document is expected to meet with vocal opposition from some Duma members, including Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia faction and Popular Power faction co-leader Sergei Baburin. They have called for more transmissions of Russian television broadcasts in Ukraine. Baburin has also warned that Russia will pave the way for Ukraine's possible accession to NATO if it ratifies a treaty renouncing all claims on Ukrainian territory. LB

AZERBAIJAN DENIES SELLING MISSILES TO PERU. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense has officially denied allegations in the "Washington Times" on 12 January that Azerbaijan has sold to Peru air-to-air missiles worth $8 million, Turan reported on 14 January. "The New York Times" on 7 January had cited a Human Rights Watch report that gunrunners from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Bulgaria had transported arms to Hutu and Tutsi militants in Burundi. LF

RUSSIAN PREMIER IN TURKMENISTAN ... On the second day of his visit to Ashgabat, Chernomyrdin on 14 January failed to reach agreement with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on the resumption of Turkmen natural gas exports via Russia. Niyazov rejected Russian offers to purchase 25 billion cubic meters of gas for resale to Ukraine or to pay $32 in transit tariffs per thousand cubic meters of Turkmen gas exported to Ukraine via Russia. But both Niyazov and Gazprom board chairman Rem Vyakhirev, who accompanied Chernomyrdin, hinted that a compromise on export tariffs may be reached, but not earlier than within one month. LF

UKRAINE RATIFIES TREATY WITH RUSSIA. By a vote of 317 to 27, Ukrainian lawmakers ratified a friendship treaty with Russia on 14 January. President Leonid Kuchma and his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin, signed the treaty last May following years of disputes over the division of the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet. The document reaffirms the countries' borders and thereby reduces Moscow's chances of claiming Crimea or its port city Sevastopol, as several Russian politicians have advocated. The Ukrainian parliament has yet to consider ratifying several agreements on the fleet, which are expected to face considerable opposition from lawmakers. PB

YELTSIN PLEASED WITH RATIFICATION OF TREATY. Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembskii told Interfax on 14 January that Boris Yeltsin welcomed the "convincing ratification" of the treaty by the Ukrainian parliament and expects the Russian parliament to "give equally convincing support" to the document. The Russian State Duma is scheduled to consider the treaty in early February. Although Duma First Deputy Speaker Vladimir Ryzhkov predicted on 14 January that the treaty will be ratified, the document is expected to meet with vocal opposition from some Duma members, including Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia faction and Popular Power faction co-leader Sergei Baburin. They have called for more transmissions of Russian television broadcasts in Ukraine. Baburin has also warned that Russia will pave the way for Ukraine's possible accession to NATO if it ratifies a treaty renouncing all claims on Ukrainian territory. LB

UKRAINIAN COURT TO RULE ON DEATH PENALTY. Chief Justice Ivan Tymchenko has said the Constitutional Court will rule whether capital punishment is constitutional, RFE/RL reported on 14 January. Tymchenko did not say when the ruling would be made. The Council of Europe has threatened to suspend Ukraine if it continues carrying out the death penalty. Kyiv pledged to stop executions when it joined the council in 1995. The following year, however, well over 100 executions took place in the country. PB