BRZEZINSKI SANGUINE ON UKRAINE’S FUTURE.

Interviewed in yesterday’s issue of the Moscow daily Nezavisimaya gazeta, Zbigniew Brzezinski pointed out that Ukrainian independence is a precondition to Russia’s “painless transformation from an imperial power to a nation-state.” Brzezinski observed that Russia’s economic problems are more profound and longer-lasting than those of Ukraine; and that “Ukraine will have a major role to play in the European economy,” once the country implements economic reforms. Noting that Ukraine’s economic potential is greater than Poland’s, Brzezinski said that he is urging the United States and West European countries to assist economic reforms in Ukraine, as they have done in Poland for nearly ten years (Nezavisimaya gazeta cited by UNIAN, October 6).–VS

TURKMENISTAN TO ADD JAPANESE-BUILT PLANT TO TURKMENBASHI COMPLEX.