A CHILLY SUMMIT.

In aTime interview this week, President Yeltsin continued to oppose NATO expansion. “We do not think the real problems of European Security can be resolved by expanding NATO to the east,” he said. Yeltsin also defended his use of troops in Chechnya, comparing his decision with that of the governor of Pennsylvania who in 1787 used a state militia to prevent part of his state from seceding. At the same time, the Clinton Administration hardened its position on Moscow’s plans to sell nuclear equipment to Iran. “We’ve conveyed our concern and outrage to the Russians about this agreement,” an unnamed US official told the New York Times April 29. And to underscore how strongly Washington feels, President Clinton announced April 29 that he was blocking all US trade with Iran in a bid to put pressure on Yeltsin to block the sale.

Fighting Continues in Chechnya.