Viktor S Chernomyrdin

Acting Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin warned Sunday that fascists could come to power in Russia if Communist legislators prolong the country's political stalemate and block the formation of a new government.

President Vladimir V. Putin named ex-Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin as ambassador to Ukraine in a surprise move signaling an upgrading of ties with a key ex-Soviet republic. Chernomyrdin headed Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom before serving as President Boris N. Yeltsin's premier from 1992 to 1998. His appointment may reflect Moscow's determination to recoup Ukraine's natural gas debts, estimated at $1.4 billion to $2 billion.

Hours after abruptly firing his prime minister and 30-member Cabinet, President Boris N. Yeltsin went on national television Monday and declared that "new views and fresh approaches" are needed to revive Russia's struggling economy. A grim Yeltsin did not explain what prompted him to jettison his top officials without warning but said the government must move more aggressively to improve the living conditions for the Russian people.

Until recently, Vice President Al Gore yearned to draw attention to his close working relationship with then-Russian Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin--evidence, aides said, that Gore had the foreign policy stature to be president. So the vice president's office issued glossy reports on the work of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. He held briefings for reporters and members of Congress (few attended).

President Vladimir V. Putin named ex-Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin as ambassador to Ukraine in a surprise move signaling an upgrading of ties with a key ex-Soviet republic. Chernomyrdin headed Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom before serving as President Boris N. Yeltsin's premier from 1992 to 1998. His appointment may reflect Moscow's determination to recoup Ukraine's natural gas debts, estimated at $1.4 billion to $2 billion.

How much change is ahead for Russia's economic policy under its newly named prime minister, Viktor S. Chernomyrdin? More may be clear after the new premier presents his government to President Boris N. Yeltsin--a move that is expected today. Chernomyrdin has said he plans to keep the "inner core" of economic reformers appointed by his predecessor, Yegor T. Gaidar, who was toppled last week by Russia's legislature.

For weeks now, the world has watched with increasing unease as Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin has defended his economic reform program--and its top advocates within his government--from the hostile former Communists in the Congress of People's Deputies, the Russian Parliament. Sensing the program's import, but also its growing unpopularity among the Russian people, Yeltsin recently deposed his leading advocate of market reforms, acting Prime Minister Yegor T. Gaidar.

Former Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin was elected Wednesday to chair the Gazprom natural gas monopoly, Russia's largest company. While the post is largely ceremonial--requiring little involvement in the company's day-to-day operations--its occupant can wield great political influence.

Despite swarming rumors of resignations and firings, Russia's new prime minister signaled Tuesday that he plans to keep on almost all of the reformist Cabinet he inherited, saying that he foresees "no sharp changes" in personnel. By Tuesday evening, the deadline for Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin to announce his new Cabinet, only the foreign trade chief was definitely quitting the young team that has engineered the last year of Russian economic reforms. President Boris N.

Former Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, Russia's special envoy on the Yugoslav crisis, will present President Boris N. Yeltsin on Monday with proposals to resolve the conflict, Russian news agencies said Saturday. Chernomyrdin said that resolving the conflict would be a difficult process but that he was ready this week to start foreign trips to try to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough.

Former Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin was elected Wednesday to chair the Gazprom natural gas monopoly, Russia's largest company. While the post is largely ceremonial--requiring little involvement in the company's day-to-day operations--its occupant can wield great political influence.

Demonstrating Russia's mixed feelings toward the Kosovo peace accord it helped negotiate, a top Foreign Ministry official criticized the country's own mediator Friday for not securing an immediate halt to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. "We should have done everything to stop the bombing yesterday or today," said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Avdeyev. "It didn't happen. And NATO has this unclear provision that allows it to take several days more and not stop the bombing."

Russian special envoy Viktor S. Chernomyrdin's meeting Monday with President Clinton to discuss a peace plan for Kosovo was one of the brightest moments yet in the former prime minister's political comeback. Booted out of the Russian government by President Boris N. Yeltsin more than a year ago, Chernomyrdin was later rejected by parliament as well. His opinion poll ratings hit rock bottom, and his chances of becoming Russia's next president were reduced to rubble.

For more than two weeks, the Russians have been conducting their own Kosovo offensive--a diplomatic one. So far, they appear to have little to show for it: Yugoslavia and NATO look no closer to peace than they did a month ago. But in the rarefied world of diplomacy, progress does not have to be obvious to be significant. Today, Russian envoy Viktor S. Chernomyrdin will take his peace campaign to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with President Clinton.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Thursday agreed to accept an international peacekeeping force in Kosovo as part of a plan to end the conflict, a Russian official reported. President Clinton said the offer might be "some step forward" if it assured the safe return of refugees. A British spokesman said later that Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed in a telephone conversation that the deal fell "well short" of NATO demands, according to Reuters news agency.

Former Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, Russia's special envoy on the Yugoslav crisis, will present President Boris N. Yeltsin on Monday with proposals to resolve the conflict, Russian news agencies said Saturday. Chernomyrdin said that resolving the conflict would be a difficult process but that he was ready this week to start foreign trips to try to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough.

After weeks of resistance, Russia's Communist-dominated parliament finally passed the 1997 draft budget at its initial reading Sunday, having first forced the cash-strapped government to rewrite it to include $6 billion in extra spending. Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin won the battle over the budget when, after a private talk with Communist leader Gennady A. Zyuganov, the latter told his followers to vote in favor of the draft--at least for the moment.

If Viktor S. Chernomyrdin's rise to become prime minister of Russia were to become a movie, it might be titled, "The Old Guard Rides Again." The 54-year-old former Soviet minister of the gas industry looked distressingly familiar as he made his brief, gruff acceptance speech at the Russian Congress of People's Deputies on Monday. The ugly brown flowered tie with the steely blue suit; the combed-back white hair and the official, formal style. . . . The apparatchik is back.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder appeared Thursday to have won Russia's cooperation in the search for peace in the Balkans, with Moscow's newly appointed envoy in the Yugoslav crisis signaling interest in a German peace proposal. Schroeder's plan seeks to mend fences--gingerly--with Russia without weakening NATO terms for an end to airstrikes, which Russia has vehemently opposed.

Prolonging the government's paralysis amid a mounting economic crisis, Russia's lower house of parliament Monday refused for the second time to confirm President Boris N. Yeltsin's candidate for prime minister. By a vote of 273 to 138, the Duma rejected the nomination of former Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, whom many legislators hold partly responsible for the country's economic collapse. The first vote was even more lopsided, however, with only 94 of the 226 needed for confirmation.