Russian President Boris Yeltsin told Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that it was high time for the West to lift its Soviet-era trade restrictions if it really wants to help Russia economically.
Before ending a three-day visit to Moscow Saturday, Mulroney publicly agreed at a joint Kremlin news conference.Russia has often been perceived as going around to the big industrial democracies begging for handouts. But top Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that the best way for the West to help Russia would be to give it a fair shake in the international marketplace and end lingering trade restrictions which further handicap the already crippled Russian economy.
Russia has been particularly critical of the United States for being reluctant to let go of outmoded trade barriers, seen in Moscow as having lost their political relevance, but which now serve to keep Russia from becoming a serious competitor in some fields and keep Russia disadvantaged in others.
Yeltsin, who is receiving modest Canadian aid, made a point of speaking out for an end to the trade restrictions imposed by the West at the height of the Cold War. Yeltsin drove home the same point at his Vancouver summit with President Bill Clinton, which was hosted by Mulroney.