Mr Shmarov said there were three separate agreements: dividing the fleet; where the Ukrainian component should be based; and settling debts. Russia and Ukraine are close to signing a deal ending the long dispute over the Black Sea Fleet, clearing up one of the most intractable problems arising from the division of the former Soviet Union. Agreement follows a meeting between Pavel Grachev, the Russian Defence Minister, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Valeriy Shmarov, in Tysovets, western Ukraine, last week. They also agreed to transfer 25 strategic bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, to Russia in exchange for various other aircraft. Mr Shmarov said he favoured a “protracted” enlargement of Nato to the east but insisted Ukraine would not join any military blocs, neither Nato nor a revived military alliance based on Russia.
The former Soviet Union’s Black Sea Fleet is bigger than the Royal Navy. In a telephone call to Russian television, one of his fighters said the Muslim Chechens would not respond officially until their top leadership had met.

But General Dudayev’s spokesman, Movladi Udugov, gave a fair indication of the likely reaction when he told Ekho Moskvy radio: “All the political steps taken by the Russian side can be no more than pre-election action with the aim of raising Yeltsin’s authority and making him Russian president for a second term.”. He called for parliamentary elections and, surprisingly, offered talks through mediators with General Dudayev, whom Moscow has up to now called a criminal.But 48 hours after Mr Yeltsin’s speech there was a resounding silence from the mountains of southern Chechnya, where General Dudayev has hidden since being forced out of his capital, Grozny, last year. Under pressure from the Communists, calling for the restoration of the Soviet Union, he will be able to tell voters that his alternative policy of seeking voluntary integration among ex-Soviet republics is bearing fruit.But he cannot yet say the same about his plan to end the Chechnya war, seen as crucial to his chances of winning a second term. On Sunday he said a campaign last month had left federal forces controlling two-thirds of Chechen territory, enabling a withdrawal of units not needed for the fight against “terrorists”. Yesterday the Chechen separatist leader, Dzhokhar Dudayev, wielded his power to influence the election and kept his enemy in the Kremlin waiting for a response to his peace initiative.Fighting continued in Chechnya despite Mr Yeltsin’s announcement of an end to military operations and a partial troop pull-out.

Mr Lukashenko said Belarus and Russia were following the example of the European Union.The new mini-community is open to other members of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States but they have preferred to keep a greater distance.The signing is a boost for Mr Yeltsin, who is running for re-election in June. “This document opens a qualitatively new stage in the history of our two brotherly peoples,” Mr Yelstin said at the ceremony in the Kremlin’s St George’s Hall. The republics will co-ordinate foreign policy and work out common defence principles. But Mr Yeltsin has been more cautious, lest Belarus becomes a burden.Under the deal, each side will preserve its independence, territorial integrity, flag and national anthem. The agreement stopped short, however, of creating a single state.

Yesterday’s peaceful rally was smaller than one last month, when Belarussians thought the President was about to surrender their national sovereignty. But it was enough to sour the atmosphere on the day that Mr Yeltsin and Mr Lukashenko launched their Community of Sovereign Republics, which creates the closest economic and political partnership of any ex-Soviet republics.
Because Belarus is in deeper economic trouble than Russia, Mr Lukashenko has been pressing for the closest possible relationship. The unidentified male driver suffered bruises and a possible fractured elbow from the baton blows, said Sergeant Mark Lohman, spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Sgt Lohman said the other occupants were uninjured.The group was taken to an Immigration and Naturalisation Service centre for questioning.The sheriff’s department immediately launched an internal investigation and placed two deputies on paid administrative leave The deputies’ names were not released. “We’re very embarrassed and we’re seriously concerned about the actions of our officers,” Sgt Lohman said.The chase began when the pickup truck driver refused to stop for Border Patrol officials. They suspected illegal immigrants were aboard because the truck was on a road frequently used to bypass a checkpoint about 60 miles north of the border.. Thousands of Belarussians cast off their national stereotype as passive people and took to the streets of Minsk last night in defiance of their conservative leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, who had earlier signed a treaty with President Boris Yeltsin on integration with Russia.

A handcuffed woman was slammed against the pickup truck involved in the chase. About 20 suspected illegal immigrants were packed into the pickup. The suspected illegal immigrants are Mexican and the deputies are white.
“It’s another Rodney King,” said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, referring to the 1991 case when four white officers were videotaped beating a black motorist.The South El Monte videotape was shot by two news helicopters overhead. Highly popular in her home stateGen Colin Powell: 58, former national security adviser and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff The most admired figure in US public life. South El Monte – Sheriff’s deputies were videotaped beating two suspected illegal immigrants with batons after a 70-mile chase. One deputy, holding his baton two-handed like a baseball bat, swung repeatedly at a person prostrate beneath him.