WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- Russia's defense minister and the nation's new armed forces chief of staff want to dramatically improve the living conditions of Russian servicemen to fulfill a vital policy plank for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- Russia's new armed forces chief of staff has been charged with making his country's military more modern, high-tech, better fed and paid -- and far more effective.

WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- Gen. Nikolai Makarov has replaced tough, old Gen. Yury Baluyevsky as the chief of staff of Russia's armed forces and has been tasked with rapidly modernizing them -- but the odds are against him.

MOSCOW, June 3 (UPI) -- There are several reasons for the recent problems in Russian-Chinese military technical cooperation. One was Russia's failure to deliver on a $1.5 billion order for 34 Il-76MD Candid transport and landing aircraft and four Il-78 Midas flying tankers.

MOSCOW, May 30 (UPI) -- The idea voiced by General of the Army Yury Baluyevsky, chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, at this year's annual meeting of the Russia-NATO Council is aimed at breaking the current deadlock over the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

MOSCOW, May 29 (UPI) -- General of the Army Yury Baluyevsky, chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, has returned from Brussels, where he took part in the annual summit of the Russia-NATO Council that was held earlier this month. At the summit, Baluyevsky proposed to his colleagues a way out of the deadlock over the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

MOSCOW, May 5 (UPI) -- On May 2, the foreign ministers of Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany met in London to discuss a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear problem.

KIEV, Ukraine, April 12 (UPI) -- The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Saturday Russia should "stop the practice of threats" over Ukraine's attempts to join NATO.

MOSCOW, April 11 (UPI) -- Russia says it would have to strengthen border security if Georgia and Ukraine join NATO.