WASHINGTON INSIGHT

YELTSIN, YEA OR NAY: Secretary of State James A. Baker III has become the referee in an Administration squabble over the future of Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin. . . . Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, long skeptical of the former Soviet Union’s reform prospects, believes Yeltsin will be only a transitional figure. He has expressed worry in private about Yeltsin’s grasp on power and has said he is concerned that Yeltsin will be replaced by a more authoritarian or populist figure who promises economic renewal and a return to Russia’s past glories--including military strength. . . . CIA Director Robert M. Gates, by contrast, has testified that Yeltsin is “almost indispensable” to the reform process in Russia and that he has the political skill to stay in power for the foreseeable future. Baker has acknowledged Yeltsin’s shortcomings but says he is the best the United States is going to get for now.