By empty (4/10/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

President Vladimir Putin and Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov signed a strategic energy accord in Moscow on 10 April under which Turkmenistan will supply natural gas to Russia through 2028. Initially the amount of Turkmen gas that Russia will be able to purchase will be limited by an existing agreement to deliver certain quantities to Ukraine, but when that agreement expires in 2006, Russian will purchase 60 billion-70 billion cubic meters of gas per year from 2007-09, when the quantity will rise to 70 billion-80 billion per year. According to Putin, the price of only half the Turkmen gas will be paid in cash; the rest will be paid in Russian goods.

By empty (4/10/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii and Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Dmitrii Rogozin have both made clear their displeasure with the resolution on human rights violations in Chechnya submitted by the EU to the UN Commission on Human Rights on 8 April. Yastrzhembskii told Interfax that the 23 March constitutional referendum in Chechnya has induced \"hysteria\" among Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe deputies. Rogozin said it is \"absolutely unreasonable\" for the UN to focus on Chechnya after it refused to debate human rights violations in Iraq.

By empty (4/10/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Robert Kocharian was sworn in for a second five-year presidential term at a ceremony on 9 April, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. The presidential oath obliges the incumbent to abide by the country\'s constitution, respect human rights and freedoms, and guarantee the country\'s freedom and territorial integrity. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the ceremony, as did former President Levon Ter-Petrossian and defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian.