51.   Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed a friendship treaty this week that was seen as an attempt to counter what both see as U.S. hegemony.

52.   Romania already signed a friendship treaty with longtime foe Hungary last year.

53.   Russian media and analysts suggested that Jiang had initiated the friendship treaty to ensure that the next generation of Chinese leaders maintain close relations with Russia.

54.   Romania and Ukraine buried a decades-old territorial dispute Monday by signing a friendship treaty that also will move them closer to NATO and other western organizations.

55.   Russia and North Korea have been working for several years on a new friendship treaty.

56.   Russia has recently notified North Korea that it will repeal a friendship treaty it signed with the communist country, Yonhap News Agency reported from Moscow Wednesday.

57.   South Korea has been demanding abrogation of the friendship treaty between Moscow and Pyongyang, arguing that it stands in the way of improved bilateral relations with Russia.

58.   The amendments were the price Jan Slota, chairman of the right-wing Slovak National Party, demanded to approve a friendship treaty with neighboring Hungary.

59.   The friendship treaty recognizes Sevastopol as Ukrainian territory but allows Russia to lease it as the base for its Black Sea fleet.

60.   The friendship treaty was initialed two years ago, but Yeltsin has postponed his visit to Ukraine for its signing six times, citing the fleet dispute.