Yeltsin, Major Sign Friendship Treaty as They Consign Cold War ‘to History’

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin spent almost five hours Monday with Prime Minister John Major, forging closer ties with Britain and “consigning the Cold War to history.”

The two leaders signed the first Anglo-Russian friendship treaty since 1766 as Major promised Yeltsin more British aid. And in an effort to bolster Russia’s crisis-stricken economy, Major and Yeltsin agreed on a package that would provide about $425 million in export credits for British companies to undertake projects in Russia.

Britain also will extend its expertise to help Russia move toward a Western-style, market-oriented economy, the leaders said.

Major reported that Russia intends to begin repaying the debts of the former Soviet Union, beginning with repayments to smaller firms in the United Kingdom. He also said that he offered Yeltsin help with Russia’s pollution problems and said a bilateral energy agreement was “close to completion.”

“We are consigning the Cold War to history,” Major said after talking with Yeltsin. In turn, Yeltsin, on his first official visit to Britain, added: “We believe that we shall build our relations on the basis of friendship, peace and close cooperation. The era of confrontation has been committed to the past.”

Yeltsin said there was no disagreement between him and Major on any of the 20 points covered in their talks, during which they agreed to establish a telephone hot line between No. 10 Downing St. and the Kremlin.