MOSCOW : Yeltsin the Statesman

Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin will begin a three-day visit to Germany starting Thursday to cultivate direct economic ties between Germany and Russia, skirting what remains of the central Soviet government.

Germany is the Soviet Union’s biggest creditor, as well as its biggest trading partner, and Yeltsin will likely bring with him further assurances that Russia will pay off its share of the debt and, if need be, that of other Soviet republics as well.

Yeltsin has said that he wants to increase Russian contact with Germany in the economy, in agriculture, science, technology and culture. He will also undoubtedly face questions from his hosts on several points of German interest, including the fate of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans seeking political autonomy in the Volga River region of Russia.