If you'd stuck to your guns, I'd have kept you alive for years.

A few people, of course, clung to the possibility of what was once called actually existing socialism.

In the meantime, the central bank hemorrhaged reserves defending this slow correction, while commercial banks have been holding on to dollars in anticipation of the ruble s further decline.

The Republic of Armenia, however, maintained an unconstructive position at the meeting and it broke the CSCE consensus by refusing to acknowledge the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Azerbaijani Republic and by opposing the unanimous decision of the CSCE participating States.