Diplomacy: Boris Makes A Comeback

By Christopher Ogden/Washington

Two years ago, he wandered through Washington as an opposition rebel, unsure of himself and trailing stories of drunkenness, to be dismissed as a political lightweight by George Bush. Back in the U.S. last week as the elected president of Russia, a sober Boris Yeltsin took the capital by storm, impressing Congress and many Americans -- if not quite Bush himself. "He used to be a loose cannon," said Senator Robert Dole, the minority leader. "Now he's a big gun." Said Bush: "Let's not forget that it was President Gorbachev's policies" that ended the cold war.

Yeltsin came as a guest of Congress but was treated like a visiting head of state, with red carpets and a jostling retinue of Secret Service agents. "Last time we both played it wrong," said former presidential adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. "We should have been nicer. This time we were."

The Russian leader said and did all the right things too, plunging into crowds of tourists at the Lincoln Monument to shake hands and hug babies. He pleased lawmakers with his plans to privatize businesses, initiate land and credit reform and establish a Russo-American bank. He asked for cooperation and investment, not aid: "I did not come here begging," he said. "He appears to be a democrat committed to democracy," decided Senator Bill Bradley, the New Jersey Democrat.

George Bush could hardly fault Yeltsin for that, or deny the electoral legitimacy that distinguishes him from Gorbachev. But while Bush appreciated the "new" Yeltsin, promised him some economic help and gave him 100 minutes in the Oval Office, he had no intention of undercutting the unelected Soviet leader. Bush said he had been "heartened and encouraged" by Yeltsin's victory, "but at the same time -- I want to be very clear about this -- the U.S. will continue to maintain the closest possible official relationship with the Soviet government of President Gorbachev."

Yeltsin emphasized that his relations with Gorbachev were now "businesslike." As long as the Soviet President pursued reform, Yeltsin would side with him. But flashes of the old, direct Boris could not be repressed. On television he admitted, "To a large extent, I don't like him."

Americans liked this Yeltsin, though -- his thumbs-up optimism, the hint of brash informality that underlay his new seriousness, his climb from underdog to winner. The next test, said Republican Senator Richard Lugar, member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is "how effective an executive he is." That means they'll like him even more if he delivers.