MOSCOW REFUSES TO BACK SANCTIONS AGAINST BELGRADE.

Moscow was a dissenter once again as the leading Western democracies imposed a new investment ban on Serbia and froze its assets abroad. The move came during a meeting in London of foreign and finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, and is a follow-up to an earlier decision taken by the international Contact Group. Canada and Japan, members of the G-7 but not of the Contact Group, supported the new measures taken against Belgrade. (International agencies, May 9) Russia, which is one of the six Contact Group countries but not a full member of the G-7, is an ally of Belgrade’s and has refused in the past to support the imposition of sanctions against Serbia.

UNEASY RUSSIAN-NATO RELATIONS CONTINUE.