The United States and Germany pledged close cooperation Saturday to help Boris Yeltsin through Russia's political and economic crises but reported no progress on a Clinton administration effort to free up more Western aid for Moscow.
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Vice President Al Gore raised the latter issue during a two-hour meeting at Kohl's residence. But Kohl did not answer directly when asked if Germany would join the United States in trying to relax standards for International Monetary Fund and other aid to Russia.While short on specifics, Kohl and Gore said the two nations would work to assess what steps the West should take in response to Russia's parliamentary elections, in which reform opponents had considerable success.
"We agreed to continue consulting with one another very closely as we continue to support the process of reform and democratization that President Yeltsin is pursuing in Russia," Gore said after the meeting.
The reassessment of the Western aid strategy comes in the wake of the access of Vladimir Zhir-in-ov-sky and his Liberal Democratic Party in Russia's parliamentary elections last week. Zhir-in-ov-sky's emergence as a Yeltsin critic has alarmed the West, particularly Germany, because of his expansionist views and nuclear threats.
Neither Gore nor Kohl made any direct reference to Zhir-in-ov-sky, but it was clear Kohl had him in mind when he stressed the importance of the West's speaking with one voice when it comes to Russia.
"It cannot be said often enough that the true success of the reform movement in Russia is our success," Kohl said. "And this is particularly true, and particularly important, in view of the somewhat strident remarks made by those who are opposed to the forces of reform."
While late gains by reformers and independents may give Yeltsin the opportunity to build parliamentary majorities for many of his initiatives, the Clinton administration believes Russia's democratic reforms will be in peril in the next elections unless the economic situation improves.