Victor S Chernomyrdin

"Shamil Basayev! I am at work," the prime minister shouted into his beige telephone at the guerrilla leader holding hundreds of hostages. "I will answer for all that is happening in this country. How much time do you need to give me an answer?" It was 2:40 a.m. To millions of Russians who watched a replay on national television, the scene marked a dramatic turn from a Kremlin policy of war in Chechnya, the start of high-level negotiations and the emergence of Viktor S.

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it had no evidence to support an allegation by Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush that former Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin diverted IMF loans to his own use. In an exchange about the IMF and the World Bank during the second presidential debate Wednesday night, Bush said there had been a "lot of egregious examples recently" of foreign aid being misused. "We went into Russia, we said here's some IMF money.

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it had no evidence to support an allegation by Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush that former Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin diverted IMF loans to his own use. In an exchange about the IMF and the World Bank during the second presidential debate Wednesday night, Bush said there had been a "lot of egregious examples recently" of foreign aid being misused. "We went into Russia, we said here's some IMF money.

Vice President Al Gore brought Russia's prime minister to see America's heartland Saturday, only to get an angry reception from an auto show crowd forced to wait outside for 40 minutes while the dignitaries were given a private tour. "Refund! Refund!" hundreds of Chicago Auto Show ticket buyers chanted. Sustained booing met Gore and Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin when they emerged to make brief remarks.

Vice President Al Gore brought Russia's prime minister to see America's heartland Saturday, only to get an angry reception from an auto show crowd forced to wait outside for 40 minutes while the dignitaries were given a private tour. "Refund! Refund!" hundreds of Chicago Auto Show ticket buyers chanted. Sustained booing met Gore and Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin when they emerged to make brief remarks.

Since the parliamentary elections two months ago, a new political reality has formed in Russia. Paradoxically, the new constitution has not fulfilled its purpose: to amplify the authority and influence of President Boris N. Yeltsin. The situation is reminiscent of Mikhail S. Gorbachev's. The more new rights and powers the former president received from the Supreme Soviet, the more illusory his authority became.

Looking ahead to the post-Yeltsin era, President Clinton met Wednesday with a roomful of Russia's leading politicians--including several likely candidates to be the next president--and urged them not to abandon democracy. Speaking to such diverse figures as Communist Party leader Gennady A. Zyuganov and Krasnoyarsk regional Gov. Alexander I. Lebed, Clinton said Russia can continue on the path toward a market economy while still protecting the nation's weak and poor.

Bosnian Serb rebels continued to hold more than 200 U.N. soldiers hostage Saturday, and three French peacekeepers were killed after pitched battles with Serbs who captured a U.N.-held bridge near the center of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. The killing of the soldiers--the deadliest direct combat between peacekeepers and Serbs in three years of war--came just hours after French President Jacques Chirac threatened to pull out his troops unless they are given better protection.

Prime Minister Victor S. Chernomyrdin and the Chechen separatist commander whose rebels are holding hundreds of men, women and children hostage in a hospital agreed in principle early today on the release of most of those captives in exchange for a cease-fire and peace talks in Chechnya. The tentative deal between Chernomyrdin and Shamil Basayev, which was reached in an early morning telephone conversation, could end Russia's worst hostage crisis.

"Shamil Basayev! I am at work," the prime minister shouted into his beige telephone at the guerrilla leader holding hundreds of hostages. "I will answer for all that is happening in this country. How much time do you need to give me an answer?" It was 2:40 a.m. To millions of Russians who watched a replay on national television, the scene marked a dramatic turn from a Kremlin policy of war in Chechnya, the start of high-level negotiations and the emergence of Viktor S.