GRIGORY YAVLINSKY FOCUS OF YELTSIN TEAM’S ATTENTION.

Former deputy premier Anatoly Chubais, a leading member of Yeltsin’s reelection team, has issued an impassioned appeal to Grigory Yavlinsky to stand aside. (Segodnya, April 30) He said Yavlinsky "cannot fail to understand" that he has no chance of election in June and that 70 percent of any votes he wins would otherwise have gone to Yeltsin. Chubais said that by his reckoning, Yeltsin and Zyuganov each have a 50-50 chance of victory. It follows that, if Yavlinsky runs, he will ensure Zyuganov’s election. But if Yavlinsky can bring himself to join forces with Yeltsin, the situation would be radically different. Therefore, Chubais concluded, "The fate of Russia depends on Grigory Yavlinsky."

Chubais discounted the arguments of such groups as the Union of Cossacks and a group of thirteen leading Russian bankers (who on April 26 issued a much publicized appeal to Yeltsin and Zyuganov) to the effect that the stability of the Russian state is being put in jeopardy by the present elections and that the various candidates should agree on a compromise for the sake of civic stability. Chubais argued that the future of Russia hangs in the balance of next month’s election and that no compromise is possible. Chubais said final decisions must be taken by May 10-15 — after that, the logic of the electoral campaign will rule out further changes.

Bulgaria, Russia, and NATO.