VOA 03/24/97
U-S OPINION ROUNDUP THE HELSINKI SUMMIT
BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE
TELEPHONE=619-3335
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=NEAL LAVON
CONTENT=
INTRO:
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS ARE COMMENTING ON THE RECENTLY COMPLETED SUMMIT IN HELSINKI, WHERE PRESIDENT CLINTON AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN AGREED ON MORE ISSUES, PARTICULARLY IN ARMS CONTROL, THAN MANY OBSERVERS THOUGHT POSSIBLE.
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER DESCRIBED THE ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS AS "DRAMATIC REDUCTIONS IN ATOMIC WEAPONS EVEN AS THEY DIFFERED ON NATO EXPANSION."
WE GET A SAMPLING OF EDITORIAL COMMENT NOW FROM ____________________IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP.
TEXT:
ALTHOUGH THE TWO LEADERS ESSENTIALLY AGREED TO DISAGREE OVER NATO EXPANSION, PRESIDENT YELTSIN ACCEPTED THE ACTION AS INEVITABLE. BUT IT WAS ON ARMS CONTROL THAT THE TWO MEN MADE PROGRESS. AS THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER PUTS IT, "AFTER YEARS OF FRUSTRATING NEGOTIATION, RUSSIA DROPPED ITS OBJECTIONS TO AMERICAN ANTIMISSILE TECHNOLOGY. [PRESIDENT] CLINTON, IN TURN, PLEDGED ECONOMIC HELP AND PROMISED RUSSIA AN OUTSIDER'S VOICE ON NATO AFFAIRS, ALTHOUGH NOT THE VETO THAT [PRESIDENT] YELTSIN INITIALLY HAD DEMANDED."
PRESIDENT CLINTON INVITED MR. YELTSIN TO PLAY A GREATER ROLE IN THIS YEAR'S DENVER MEETING OF THE GROUP OF SEVEN, THE WORLD'S SEVEN MOST INDUSTRIALIZED DEMOCRACIES, WHICH PRESIDENT CLINTON SAID WILL BE CALLED THE SUMMIT OF THE EIGHT.
U-S PAPERS ARE DIVIDED AS TO THE SUMMIT'S ACHIEVEMENTS AND WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING WITH THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.
VOICE:
"THE COLD WAR STILL CASTS A LONG SHADOW. THE SUMMIT MEETING ..... WAS NOTABLE FOR SHOWING JUST HOW DEEPLY INGRAINED THE COLD WAR MENTALITY IS. NEITHER LEADER COULD GET PAST THE STALEMATE ON NATO AND ARMS CONTROL, ALTHOUGH MR. YELTSIN PROMISED TO TRY TO JUMP START (MOVE QUICKLY ON) THE START TWO TREATY, WHICH HAS STALLED IN THE RUSSIAN DUMA [LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT]. THE FAILURE TO COME TO ANY MORE PROFOUND AGREEMENTS AUGURS PROBLEMS AHEAD."
TEXT:
A SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT VIEW COMES FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, WHICH SAYS THAT WHILE THE NATO ISSUE DID NOT MOVE MUCH TOWARD RESOLUTION, THERE WERE OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS.
VOICE:
"FAR-REACHING ARMS LIMITATIONS ISSUES WERE CONSIDERED, AND HERE WELCOME PROGRESS SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MADE.
TALKS ON FURTHER STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS REDUCTIONS COULD BEGIN LATER THIS YEAR, PROVIDED RUSSIA'S PARLIAMENT RATIFIES THE START TWO TREATY, SIGNED IN 1993. ..... THE BIG QUESTION IS WHETHER [PRESIDENT] YELTSIN CAN PERSUADE THE DUMA, THE LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT, WHICH IS DOMINATED BY COMMUNISTS AND ULTRANATIONALISTS, TO RATIFY START TWO. THAT TREATY CLEARLY WOULD SERVE RUSSIA'S INTERESTS AS WELL AS THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES, AS WOULD START THREE. BUT RUSSIAN OPPOSITION TO NATO'S GROWTH COULD CONTINUE TO HOLD UP ACTION ON THE TREATY."
TEXT:
IN THE EAST, THE WASHINGTON POST CALLED THE MEETING "A USEFUL SUMMIT," AND WENT ON TO NOTE:
VOICE:
"IN HELSINKI ... MR. CLINTON GOT WHAT HE WANTED - - DE FACTO RUSSIAN ACQUIESCENCE OF NATO EXPANSION EASTWARD.
IN RETURN, IT APPEARS THAT HE GAVE MR. YELTSIN SMALL WINS - - THIS JUNE'S G-7 MEETING IN DENVER WILL BE CALLED "THE SUMMIT OF THE EIGHT" - - AND "CONCESSIONS" THAT ARE AS MUCH IN U-S INTEREST AS IN RUSSIA'S SUCH AS A PLEDGE TO FURTHER REDUCE NUCLEAR-WEAPON ARSENALS.
STILL, BOTH SIDES HAVE TO PORTRAY THE PACKAGE AS A CAREFULLY BALANCED COMPROMISE. ALL THAT SAID, IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT THIS WAS A USEFUL, PRODUCTIVE SUMMIT. ....
NOW THAT THE U-S-RUSSIA RELATIONSHIP IS, FOR THE MOMENT, ON TRACK, MR. CLINTON CAN TURN TO A NO-LESS-CRUCIAL CHALLENGE OF SHAPING THE NEW EUROPE. .... TO ENSURE THAT THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT NATIONS THAT WILL NOT ENTER NATO ON THE FIRST GO-ROUND, SUCH AS ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA AND UKRAINE, EMERGE WITH THEIR SOVEREIGNTY AND SECURITY WELL PROTECTED."
TEXT:
STILL IN THE EAST, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ALSO LOOKS ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE CONFERENCE.
VOICE:
"NOW THAT THE COLD WAR IS OVER, MOSCOW-WASHINGTON SUMMITS HAVE LOST MUCH OF THEIR GLAMOUR. THERE'S LOTS LESS HYPE; NO ONE CLAIMS THE 'FREE WORLD'S FUTURE' IS AT STAKE. ..... STILL, DESPITE THE TENSIONS AT HELSINKI OVER NATO, THE U-S-RUSSIAN RELATIONSHIP HAS MOVED LIGHT YEARS FORWARD OVER THE LAST DECADE. NO ONE SHOULD PINE [WISH] FOR THE HIGH SUMMIT DRAMA OF THE BAD OLD DAYS."
TEXT:
TODAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL TAKES A VERY DIFFERENT VIEW, SUGGESTING IT WAS DISAPPOINTED WITH AGREEMENTS ON MISSILE LIMITATION AND U-S MISSILE DEFENSE.
VOICE:
"BILL CLINTON RETURNED FROM THE HELSINKI SUMMIT ...
CLAIMING SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS. ON CLOSER INSPECTION, THEY ARE NOT ALTOGETHER EVIDENT. THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE DISCUSSED WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN WAS NUCLEAR MISSILES AND MISSILE DEFENSE, AND IT IS HERE THAT THE AGREEMENT REACHED WAS THE MOST AMBIGUOUS. .... HE [PRESIDENT CLINTON] AGREED TO LIMIT THE CAPABILITY OF U-S THEATER [DEFENDS AGAINST SHORT-RANGE MISSILE] SYSTEMS; THEY CANNOT BE TESTED AGAINST ENEMY MISSILES THAT CAN TRAVEL FURTHER THAN 35-HUNDRED KILOMETERS OR FASTER THAN FIVE KILOMETERS PER SECOND. HE ALSO PLEDGED A YEARLY EXCHANGE OF DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE SYSTEMS AND TO 'NOT DEVELOP, TEST OR DEPLOY SPACE-BASED THEATER MISSILE DEFENSE INTERCEPTORS.' SPACE SYSTEMS JUST HAPPEN TO BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF MISSILE DEFENSE."
TEXT:
LASTLY, AN IDEA WAS PROPOSED BY THE HARTFORD COURANT SUGGESTING THAT RUSSIA BE MADE A FULL PARTNER OF NATO RIGHT NOW.
VOICE:
"PRESIDENT CLINTON TOLD RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN AT THEIR SUMMIT ... NOT TO FEAR THE [NATO] EXPANSION.
DON'T BLAME MR. YELTSIN IF HE DOES NOT BUY THE ASSURANCE. NATO IS A MILITARY ORGANIZATION. ADMITTING POLAND, HUNGARY AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC WOULD BRING NATO SOLDIERS TO RUSSIA'S DOORSTEP. .... WHAT MAJOR POWER WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SUCH A MIGHTY MILITARY MACHINE SURROUND IT PERMANENTLY? ..... STILL, THE REALITY IS THAT NATO WILL PROBABLY EXPAND SOON. THE WESTERN ALLIANCE, LED BY THE UNITED STATES, HAS DETERMINED THAT THE PLUSES OUTWEIGH THE MINUSES. PERHAPS THE BENEFITS WILL BECOME OBVIOUS IF NATO USES ITS POWER EFFECTIVELY TO STEM POTENTIAL BRUSH FIRES IN EUROPE BEFORE THEY TURN INTO BLOODBATHS. BUT PREVENTIVE MEASURES ARE FARE MORE LIKELY TO SUCCEED IF RUSSIA PARTICIPATES AS A FULL PARTNER. .... AND IF THE WEST WANTS RUSSIA'S DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PARLIAMENT TO RATIFY THE SALT TWO TREATY, NATO MEMBERSHIP FOR MOSCOW WILL MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE."
TEXT:
ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS BRIEF SAMPLING OF EDITORIAL REACTION TO LAST WEEK'S HELSINKI SUMMIT.
NEB/ANG/NL
24-Mar-97 2:42 PM EST (1942 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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