MOSCOW, April 21 -- President Clinton on Sunday backed Boris Yeltsin's embattled policy in Chechnya, saying he agreed to help the Russian leader end the 16-month-old conflict in the breakaway republic. Following five hours of talks in the Kremlin that followed a two-day, nine-nation nuclear security summit, Clinton said he agreed to Yeltsin's request for help in forging a peace between Russia and Chechen rebels. A White House official said Yeltsin had asked Clinton 'to talk to some world leaders who he thought might have an influence in opening dialogue' between the Kremlin and Chechen rebel leader Dzhokhar Dudayev. Dudayev has spurned Yeltsin's recent offer of talks. The U.S. official said one of the leaders was King Hassan II of Morocco, who Yeltsin said was one of a handful of figures 'who have agreed to act in the role of intermediaries and to talk to Dudayev.' U.S. diplomats may also contact Arab League leaders to help bring the rebellion in the southern republic to and end, the White House official said. Russia has accused Turkey, Pakistan and other Muslim nations of aiding the Chechen rebels, who have fought to end Russian control of the region. A White House official said Yeltsin had asked Clinton 'to talk to some world leaders who he thought might have an influence in opening dialogue' between the Kremlin and Dudayev, who has so far largely spurned Yeltsin's recent offer of talks through intermediaries. The official said one of the leaders was King Hassan II of Morocco, who Yeltsin said was one of a handful of figures 'who have agreed to act in the role of intermediaries and to talk to Dudayev' about a deal that would leave Chechnya within Russia.
He would not say which other leaders Clinton had agreed to contact, and said it was unclear if the cooperation would work 'until we've actually talked and seen how significant this is.' Russia in the past has accused Turkey, Pakistan and other Muslim nations of aiding the Chechen rebels. Clinton compared the conflict with the American Civil War and said he supported Yeltsin's position that Chechnya 'must and will remain part of Russia.' 'I would remind you that we once had a civil war in our country... over the proposition that Abraham Lincoln gave his life for: That no state had a right to withdraw from our union,' Clinton said. Yeltsin ordered the invasion of Chechnya in December 1994. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict. Clinton appeared to accept Yeltsin's claim that 'no military operations are being carried out' in Chechnya since he announced a cease-fire and peace plan on March 31 -- a statement belied by numerous Russian bombings and the fierce fighting that has raged since the truce call. Clinton also praised Yeltsin's economic efforts and absolved him of the blame for the painful reforms that have threatened to put a Communist back in the Kremlin five years after the Soviet collapse. 'The economic problems that Russia has endured began before the Soviet Union disappeared,' Clinton said, striking a theme Yeltsin has used in his re-election effort: that the Communists are to blame for Russia's financial woes and not the Kremlin leadership. But Clinton insisted he was not openly supporting Yeltsin's candidacy in the June election. The U.S. president spoke with top opposition politicians, including Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, at a meeting hosted by the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, Thomas Pickering. Asked before the meeting at the ambassador's residence how he would react to a Zyuganov victory in the Russian presidential election, Clinton said: 'The Russian people will make that decision and we will proceed accordingly. I am not going to get into this election.' Appearing at pains to avoid a clash with Yeltsin on any issue, Clinton praised the Russian leader for hosting the nuclear summit and pointed to the solidarity among the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations and Russia on the need for a swift ban on all nuclear testing. U.S. officials said Clinton asked for an affirmation from Yeltsin that he will push China on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty when he travels there later this week. Yeltsin indicated in comments to reporters he would gladly do so. 'Now we are going to have to do a little work, especially with China,' Yeltsin said. 'That is why we, the leaders of the G-8, decide these big political issues in order to somehow move forward.' Clinton also glossed over Yeltsin's earlier criticism of U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher's efforts to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. Yeltsin said he 'does not understand' the behavior of Christopher. Yeltsin was apparently indicating the U.S. diplomat was grabbing the limelight in the bid for a Middle East cease-fire while paying little heed to the efforts of Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, a Middle East expert. But White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the leaders had agreed their governments would keep in touch over the coming days and pool their peacemaking efforts in the region. Also Sunday, Clinton said he made 'real progress' in convincing Russia that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty does not prohibit the development of theater missile systems, a point of contention that has delayed Russian ratification of the second phase of the sweeping Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Yeltsin said Russia continues to oppose the planned eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and will seek a compromise 'that no country will be able to enter NATO without Russia's agreement.' Clinton, who has stressed that Russia has no veto right on the expansion, said he saw 'no changes' on the issue. Several East European nations want to join the military alliance.
U.S. officials said Clinton asked for an affirmation from Yeltsin that he will push a recalcitrant China on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty issue when he travels there later this week. Yeltsin indicated in comments to reporters he would gladly do so, making Beijing into a bugbear on the issue. 'Now we are going to have to do a little work, especially with China,' Yeltsin said, positioning Russia as a partner of the West at the expense of its giant Asian neighbor. 'That is why we, the leaders of the G-8, decide these big political issues in order to somehow move forward.' Clinton also glossed over Yeltsin's criticism at the beginning of their talks of U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. Yeltsin said he 'does not understand' the behavior of Christopher. Yeltsin was apparently indicating the U.S. diplomat was grabbing the limelight in the bid for a Middle East cease-fire while paying little heed to the efforts of Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, a Middle East expert who Yeltsin hired in January to lift Moscow's fallen face on the world stage. But White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the leaders had agreed their governments would keep in touch over the coming days and pool their peacemaking efforts in the region, once a Cold War battlefield between Washington and Moscow. Clinton and Yeltsin also put a positive spin on the ongoing disputes that have marred their relations in recent years, and struck a positive tone on these disagreements, saying they were moving toward solutions on prickly arms control issues. Clinton said he made 'real progress' in convincing Russia that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty does not prohibit the development of theater missile systems, a point of contention that has delayed Russian ratification of the sweeping START-2 nuclear disarmament pact. Yeltsin indicated he was gunning for the U.S. to approve Russian violations of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe treaty at a May review of the 1990 concord, which Moscow has thwarted by keeping increased amounts of troops and materiel around Chechnya and in the Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad. Yeltsin said Russia continues to oppose NATO's planned eastward expansion and will seek a compromise 'for instance that no country will be able to enter NATO without Russia's agreement,' and Clinton, who has stressed that Russia has no veto right on the expansion, said he saw 'no changes' on the issue.
