* President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan's internal security would be built on inter-ethnic and religious accord
* President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan was firmly in favor of strategic partnerships with arguably the world's three most powerful countries, i.e. Russia, the U.S. and China
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko heavily criticized a decision made by parliament to dismiss the country's government
* An expert from a virology center said a strain of bird flu found in the autonomous Ukrainian region of Crimea was highly contagious for chickens but presented less of a danger to people
* Ukrainian leader Viktor Yushchenko took a positive view of his country's tense relationship with Russia over the last two months, and indicated he was optimistic about the future of bilateral relations
* Russia's foreign minister told his opposite number in the United States that some comments made in the U.S. during talks over Russian gas supplies to Ukraine were unacceptable
* President Vladimir Putin said Russia should boost cooperation with Ukraine in the scientific, health and humanitarian spheres
* The Georgian government met to discuss urgent measures to counter the spread of bird flu from neighboring Turkey, but said it would not close its border with the country
* Ukraine's former prime minister and current opposition leader called for an interim government to be formed in the country after parliament voted to dismiss the Cabinet Tuesday
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said the government did not recognize the parliament's decision to dismiss the Cabinet, and would continue its work
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said the Russian-Ukrainian natural gas agreement had been drafted professionally and his country would honor its commitments to both Russia and the West
* Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he saw no crisis in Ukraine following Tuesday's dismissal of Yuriy Yekhanurov's government
* Russia increased natural gas supplies to Armenia by 26.5% year-on-year in 2005 to reach 1.685 billion cubic meters, the Russian-Armenian joint venture, ArmRosgazprom, said in a statement
* President Vladimir Putin said the government would, if necessary, help Russian energy giant Gazprom meet its commitments to Ukraine under the new gas deal agreed by the two countries earlier this month
* The leaders of Russia and Ukraine discussed the fate of a Russian naval base on the Black Sea
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Russia and Ukraine were close to signing an agreement on the demarcation of the Kerch Strait
* A source in the Russian government said the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Power, Sergei Kiriyenko, would soon pay a visit to Ukraine
* The widow of a Ukrainian investigative journalist whose murder became a focal point in the "orange revolution" that swept new authorities to power in 2004 said she was unhappy with how the investigation into his killing was proceeding
* Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the results of the talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
* Russia's leading independent crude producer, LUKoil, said it intended to expand its operations in oil-rich Kazakhstan
* The Georgian government said it would allocate additional funds to prevent bird flu from spreading to the country from neighboring Turkey, where at least three people have died from the virus in the last few days
* The president of Belarus said Wednesday that the regional security organization of former Soviet republics, of which Belarus is a member, was a major defense against pressure from Western nations
