home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text>
- <title>
- Russians See Postpoll 'Shift' in U.S. Policy
- </title>
- <article>
- <hdr>
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service, December 22, 1993
- Russians See Postpoll 'Shift' in U.S. Policy
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>[Aleksandr Shalnev report: "Is Washington Changing Its
- Position With Regard to Moscow?"]
- </p>
- <p>[Text] Shifts [sdvigi] are becoming discernible in U.S. policy
- toward Russia, and this is being forced on Washington's White
- House by the results of the recent elections, at which, a key
- adviser to President Clinton on the Russian question, Strobe
- Talbott, admitted, a clear protest was registered against the
- painful burdens associated with the reforms.
- </p>
- <p>At a meeting with reporters, Talbott, who has just visited
- Moscow as a member of Vice President Gore's entourage, made it
- clear that the United States will now be prepared to take notice
- not only of President Boris Yeltsin but also of the reformers in
- the opposition to the Kremlin leader. "If they satisfy our
- concepts of reforms," said Talbott--who is often called the
- "Russian czar" in Washington inasmuch as he is chief coordinator
- of the activities of all federal departments relating to Russia
- and the other countries of the former USSR--"if they come out in
- support of democracy, we will definitely support them."
- </p>
- <p>Talbott did not mention any specific names, and what is more
- he very skillfully avoided a direct reply when asked if
- Washington had begun a review of its Russian policy, but in
- itself the very readiness of the Clinton administration to "look
- BEYOND Yeltsin" is an extremely important trend. It is very well
- known how insistently Bill Clinton has rejected any proposals
- not to put "all his eggs in one basket," as they say in America;
- that is, not to put all his money solely and exclusively on the
- Russian president, to attempt to build bridges, and to form
- relationships with those who do not espouse Yeltsin's reforms 100
- percent.
- </p>
- <p>And now we have these admissions by Talbott, who enjoys
- Clinton's absolute trust in terms of Russian affairs and who
- would hardly have made his statement spontaneously without having
- verified it with the feelings of the White House chief. It can be
- surmised that these feelings are taking shape both under the
- influence of the information coming from Moscow in which the
- election results have been deciphered, and under the influence of
- the observations which Talbott himself brought back from Russia.
- </p>
- <p>According to the "Russian czar," Moscow must pay more
- attention to the social needs of Russia's inhabitants and to the
- development of private enterprise. For its part, the United
- States is planning to review its program of aid to Russia in
- order to take account of Russians' dissatisfaction with the
- economic reforms and in order to help strengthen the reformers'
- political positions.
- </p>
- <p>One more thing: Senator Sam Nunn, Democrat, who is chairman of
- the Armed Service Committee, has stated that "the American side
- must establish contact with Zhirinovskiy, as we must maintain
- contacts with all the groupings in Russia." At the same time, the
- senator, who is one of the most influential on Capitol Hill, is
- opposed to Clinton's meeting with the leader of the Liberal
- Democratic Party of Russia when he visits Moscow in mid-January.
- "He is only the leader of a small, albeit potentially
- influential, grouping."
- </p>
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>