Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9410030030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
They made progress on both fronts, officials said.
The session, their fifth in 20 months, came amid a big emphasis on business deals. The United States pledged $525 million in financing and political risk insurance for investments in Russia, leading Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to say the meeting ``can truly be called the trade and investment summit.''
Additional agreements this week are expected to boost the investment total to $1 billion.
Clinton tried at length to persuade Yeltsin to stop sales of submarines, missile technology, air armaments and other equipment to Iran, which is accused by Washington of sponsoring terrorism. ``There's a resolution in sight on this very difficult issue,'' Secretary of State Warren Christopher said.
He said Clinton and Yeltsin would continue discussions on the topic today, but he declined to say how a compromise might be struck.
Desperate for cash, Moscow does an estimated $1 billion worth of arms deals annually with Iran.
On Bosnia, Christopher said Clinton will ask the U.N. Security Council around Nov. 1 to approve lifting the arms embargo against the Muslim-led government but to delay implementing it for months. That eased, at least temporarily, Russian concerns about the war heating up.
Christopher said Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic came to him Friday and suggested a six-month delay in the flow of arms.
During the delay, Christopher said, the United States hopes Bosnian Serbs would reverse their rejection of a peace plan to end the 21/2-year war in the former Yugoslav republic. Clinton is looking to Yeltsin for help toward that end.
``Our nations are growing closer together, replacing suspicion and fear with trust and cooperation,'' Clinton said, welcoming Yeltsin to the White House with a handshake and a hug.
The burly Russian president said they would prove skeptics wrong and make ``great progress'' in two days of discussions. ``It is fair to say that the United States is a strong partner and not an easy one to deal with, just like Russia,'' he said.
In search of informality, Clinton and Yeltsin moved their talks from the Oval Office to an outdoor garden patio. On a warm, sunny morning, Yeltsin was welcomed with a 21-gun salute and trumpet heralds on the South Lawn. Clinton noted the absence of drama and suspicion that frequently were a hallmark of Cold War summits.
``Today we meet not as adversaries but as partners in the quest for a more prosperous and peaceful world,'' Clinton said. ``In so many areas our interests no longer conflict; they coincide. And where we do disagree, we can discuss our differences in a climate of warm peace, not cold war.''
Yeltsin bluntly said he would oppose any move by Clinton to lift a U.N. embargo in order to arm the Muslim-led Bosnian government. ``My response would be negative, of course,'' Yeltsin said.
Clinton had pledged to act on the embargo by Oct. 15, but said ``this may be a largely academic discussion'' now. ``We received word just in the last couple of days from the Bosnian government that they may be interested in deferring any action on that for four to six months,'' Clinton said.
Yeltsin raised anew his proposal for a meeting of heads of state to solve the Balkan crisis. The Clinton administration has been cool to the idea, and an official said nothing was decided.
Clinton said Russia and the United States have worked together to get the Serbs to accept a land-division agreement to end the war. ``We're going to do our best to stay together,'' he said.
by CNB