YELTSIN STONEWALLS ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM MOLDOVA.

Ata June 28 Moscow summit meeting with Moldovan President MirceaSnegur, Boris Yeltsin brushed aside the provisions of the 1994agreement between the two sides setting a three year term forwithdrawal and said that "the time period of the troops’stationing may be revised at any time." The Russian presidentadded that Moscow "does not rule out the establishment ofa military base" in the Transdniestr region. Ostankino televisionsaid that Yeltsin had drawn a parallel between the status Russiantroops now have in Georgia and the one he wanted for Russian forcesin Moldova. Moscow media cited other Russian officials as sayingthat the 1994 agreement "legitimizes" the presence ofRussian troops in Moldova allegedly conditioning the withdrawalon a political settlement of the Transdniestr dispute.

Snegur on the Defensive.