YELTSIN “IMPROMPTU” REMARKS CALCULATED TO TEST PUBLIC ATTITUDES.

Boris Yeltsin’s supposedly impromptu remarks–such as his aside on Japan’s possible use of aid to the earthquake victims as a negotiating tool–are in fact the result of a careful plan by the president’s backers to test Russian attitudes on key issues, Kommersant-Daily reported June 6. Because they are asides, they can later be explained away–as Yeltsin’s press spokesman tried to do with the Japan comments. But because they are reported, Yeltsin’s team can find out just how Russians feel about certain issues.

Disarmament by Budget Cut.