Last year tension heightened dramatically between Russia and Ukraine over Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait, a narrow body of water providing access from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. It took a meeting between the two countries' presidents to defuse the situation. RFE/RL reports on what has happened since.
Prague, 12 January 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Among the topics being discussed in some of the major dailies today are Russia's waning influence in the Caucasus, the Kremlin's tight-fisted control of national politics ahead of presidential elections in March, encouraging liberal political reform in Ukraine, and the high hopes pinned on Georgian President-elect Mikheil Saakashvili: Are they too high to be realized?