Administration Will Seek More Aid for Russia : Congress: After Nixon criticism, the lawmakers will be pressed to act. Other republics would also be helped.

Stung by criticism from former President Richard M. Nixon, the Bush Administration has decided to make a new push in Congress for aid to Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union and may unveil a proposal as early as next week, officials said Thursday.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III met with advisers for more than two hours Thursday to map strategy for winning the aid, which Baker says is essential to keep Russia’s government in democratic--and friendly--hands.

“We’re wrestling with it seriously now,” a senior official said. “We hope to have something worked out shortly.”

President Bush formally asked Congress last month for $620 million in aid for the 12 republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as a $12-billion increase in U.S. deposits in the International Monetary Fund, which is also aiding Russia. But so far, the Administration has done little to press either request. Senior officials said there is little enthusiasm to do so during an election campaign that has seen Bush criticized for spending too much time and money on foreign affairs.

Then, last week, Nixon criticized the Administration for failing to face up to the challenge of helping the former Soviet Union come into the democratic world, calling Bush’s actions (in a memorandum that was technically private, but quickly leaked) “pathetically inadequate.”

“That had a real effect,” an Administration official said. “It got people moving.”

Robert S. Strauss, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, also called for more action and told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it is “outrageous” the United States had not fulfilled its commitment to the IMF.

Last week, one official said, Baker and Brent Scowcroft, Bush’s national security adviser, agreed to push harder for the aid.

At the same time, a long list of members of Congress began assuring Baker that they would support an aid request if the Administration decides to press it.

“I’m willing to support a bipartisan effort, because I think this is in our national interest,” said Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), who also has criticized the Administration for moving too hesitantly. “But it’s a decision for the President to make.”

Other senators have warned that the collapse of negotiations this week over Israel’s request for U.S. loan guarantees would make it impossible for Congress to pass a foreign aid bill with additional aid for Russia. But Mitchell said that he does not think that issue poses an insuperable obstacle.

“If we get a bipartisan agreement on the substance, it’s doable,” he said.

Two kinds of aid are under discussion. First, Bush has requested $620 million in direct aid over the next two years, most of it in the form of emergency food aid and “technical assistance,” including programs to help launch private enterprises, build a Western-style banking system, modernize food distribution and convert defense industries to civilian use.

Second, the Administration is relying on the IMF and other international financial institutions to carry much of the burden of stabilizing the Russian economy--but the IMF says it will quickly run out of money unless the United States increases its stake by a long-promised $12 billion. IMF chief Michel Camdessus made a rare public plea for the money this week, telling an audience of businessmen that it is “absolutely critical” and adding that, if Russia’s reforms succeed, “it could be good business.”

Congress must approve any increase in U.S. deposits at the IMF, although the money is loaned out rather than spent. Conservative Republicans in Congress have opposed the proposed boost, and the Administration has done little so far to change their minds.

The IMF intends to grant membership to Russia next month, a move that will enable the fund to provide as much as $12 billion in financing for Yeltsin’s economy.

At the same time, the United States and other key IMF members are actively discussing the details of a proposed $6-billion fund to back Russia’s now-unstable currency, the ruble, when Yeltsin’s government attempts to make it freely convertible like Western currencies.

Some officials in the Bush Administration had long resisted the idea of a ruble stabilization fund, saying it was either premature or unnecessary. But over the last few weeks they have concluded that a such a fund is “a political totem,” one aide said, without which the reforms won’t succeed.

“We’re still discussing the details of how much and when and what kind of currency reform,” he said, “. . . but we have agreed in principle on a stabilization fund.”

A key political issue is still unresolved: Will Bush himself make the direct, personal appeal that is needed to win both the direct U.S. aid and the IMF increase? As recently as a month ago, Bush’s political advisers were reported to be resisting the idea.

But in recent weeks, as Bush has won a string of Republican primary victories, his advisers have begun looking for ways to remind voters of his experience in foreign policy.