CLINTON OPENS SUMMIT WITH $1 BILLION OFFER

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

DATE: SUNDAY, April 4, 1993                   TAG: 9304040153
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VANCOUVER,BRITISH COLUMBIA                                LENGTH: Medium
CLINTON OPENS SUMMIT WITH $1 BILLION OFFER
President Clinton met in his first summit with Boris Yeltsin on Saturday, offering the Russian president a $1 billion aid package and unqualified support "for the fight that he's waging" against economic and political upheaval in Moscow.
It was Clinton's first moment on the stage of international diplomacy, and the first time that economics rather than nuclear and military issues highlighted a U.S.-Soviet summit.
Yeltsin said his Communist opponents were looking for a vengeful return to power, and Clinton described the outcome of the struggle as uncertain. "I don't know what's going to happen," Clinton said. "None of us do."
As their weekend summit began, Clinton needed to establish his own political base for the Russian aid package. His regular radio address to the American public provided one forum, and the summit activities another. At every turn, Clinton emphasized the self-interest for the United States to help bolster the Russian economy and the Yeltsin reforms.
"The United States has a great deal to gain from a strong, successful, democratic Russia," Clinton said, Yeltsin at his side. "It is in our interests, and I am very encouraged by the things that President Yeltsin has stood for and the fight that he's waging."
Yeltsin barely fought off impeachment in Moscow last month and freely acknowledged Saturday that Western assistance should help shore up his nation's faltering economy and his own uncertain political base.
White House communications director George Stephanopoulos said the opening session, which ran 30 minutes beyond its schedule, established a "strong atmosphere of cooperation and partnership" between the two leaders.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB