NEWS ANALYSIS : Kohl Facing Problems in Clinton Talks : Diplomacy: Germany’s limits on use of its forces may complicate his working relationship with the new President.

As Chancellor Helmut Kohl prepares to depart Thursday evening for Washington and his first-ever meeting with Bill Clinton, he faces problems that could complicate his hope of establishing a strong working relationship with the new U.S. President.

The two leaders are scheduled to discuss a variety of issues, including emergency Western help for Russia, the Bosnian crisis and floundering global trade talks.

However, Kohl’s advisers say his primary goal is to lay the groundwork for the kind of relationship he enjoyed with Clinton’s predecessor, George Bush.

Bush’s decision to shift America’s primary transatlantic link from London to Bonn helped Kohl to achieve rapid unification. But Germany’s inability to join its allies in the 1991 Persian Gulf War because of constitutional restrictions prohibiting the deployment of German forces outside NATO territory tarnished the Kohl-Bush “special relationship,” and the continuing debate about the issue in Germany has only damaged the nation’s credibility further.

Consequently, although reunified Germany is considered the nation pivotal to the future of Europe, Kohl is following British Prime Minister John Major and French President Francois Mitterrand as the third European leader to enter the Clinton White House.

Those close to Kohl note that his Washington schedule centers on two hours of one-on-one talks with Clinton on Friday morning and that it calls for only a relatively short meeting of the U.S. and German delegations, also Friday.

In addition, Kohl is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) before departing for Bonn on Friday evening. “On previous trips, he has scheduled a number of meetings. But this time, the preparation has been aimed almost exclusively at understanding who Bill Clinton really is and how he works,” noted one of those advising Kohl.

Although he is now one of Europe’s veteran statesmen, Kohl had little experience in foreign affairs when he became chancellor 10 1/2 years ago, and his style has always been to emphasize the importance of personal ties in dealing with his Western counterparts.

This time, the job could be difficult.

For example, any U.N. Security Council resolution asking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to enforce a “no-fly zone” over Bosnia-Herzegovina made before Kohl’s arrival would place the chancellor in the uncomfortable position of once again having to explain why Germany cannot join a NATO operation.

Such a development would only underscore a 1991 warning by Robert B. Zoellick, at the time a key aide to Bush’s secretary of state, James A. Baker III, that Germany risks isolation if it constantly tries to make up for not joining in allied military actions by contributing money to support them.

“More (money) will never be enough,” Zoellick said at the time.

The conservative triumph in last weekend’s elections in France is also expected to make it much harder for Kohl to persuade his Socialist friend, French President Francois Mitterrand, to give ground on the issue of reducing European Community farm subsidies. That issue has stalled agreement on the Uruguay Round of global trade negotiations.

The United States has said that no agreement is possible without substantial cuts in these subsidies. Kohl is known to favor compromise and has pushed Mitterrand on previous occasions without success.

Both Clinton and Kohl are expected to agree on the need for immediate new aid for Russia to bolster that country’s beleaguered president, Boris N. Yeltsin. Since 1989, Germany has provided the Soviet Union and its successor states with nearly $50 billion in aid, more than half of all the help from the West.