NATIONS DECLARE PEACE `BORIS AND GEORGE' PROCLAIM FRIENDSHIP

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 2, 1992                   TAG: 9202020100
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: CAMP DAVID, MD.                                LENGTH: Medium
NATIONS DECLARE PEACE `BORIS AND GEORGE' PROCLAIM FRIENDSHIP
President Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin, putting the Cold War formally to rest, proclaimed on Saturday a "new era" in which the two nations will join as allies to seek "an enduring peace that rests on lasting common values."
In a joint Camp David Declaration issued after a three-hour meeting at the rustic presidential retreat, they vowed that their countries will no longer regard each other as adversaries. Instead, they pledged to act as partners in promoting democracy and reform.
"Russia and the United States are starting a new relationship, and it's based on trust," Bush said at a joint press conference.
The proclamation of U.S.-Russian friendship comes at a time of mutual aspirations for a Russia transformed but also of shared concern about what would happen if the effort fails. Warning against the return of the old Communist regime, Yeltsin declared: "If the reform in Russia goes under . . . the Cold War is going to turn into a hot war."
The declaration provided a symbolic centerpiece for a summit whose main purpose was giving a powerful American endorsement to Yeltsin, the once-scorned populist leader now regarded as indispensable to Russian reform.
And with small gestures and warm words, the two leaders portrayed themselves as having forged an important personal bond. By the end of their time together they were dressed in identical fur-lined Camp David parkas, striding side by side against a bitter wind.
"We say Boris and George," Yeltsin announced at the news conference in which the two took turns proclaiming their admiration for the other, "and already this says a lot."
"I have a very warm feeling in my heart about what he has done and is trying to do," Bush said of the Russian leader, "and I consider him my friend."
As they parted company, the two leaders said they regretted only that their visit was so short. But they announced plans to meet twice again this year for more formal summits in Russia and the United States, with Yeltsin to return to Washington as early as April.
The abbreviated session, coming a day after the two participated in a United Nations Security Council summit in New York, provided no time for detailed discussion of arms control proposals Bush and Yeltsin have put forward in recent days.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB