RICHARD NIXON: 1913-1994 : Leaders Worldwide Recall Triumphs of the Statesman : Tributes: Nixon’s achievements, from Moscow to Beijing, are hailed by powerbrokers past and present.

Condolences poured in from around the globe as world leaders paid tribute Saturday to Richard Nixon as an international statesman who achieved diplomatic triumphs from Moscow to Beijing.

Nixon continued until the end of his life to offer behind-the-scenes advice to many of the world’s powerbrokers, including in a controversial visit to Moscow just last month.

In an unusually warm statement Saturday, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said: “I am shocked by the death not only of an extraordinary man but also of one of the greatest politicians in the world.

“I became convinced that he was one of the first major world politicians who have understood Russia, and understood what it was fighting for,” Yeltsin said. “He had a special attitude toward Russia. He was deeply concerned about our developments. . . . I really respected him sincerely and with all my soul and regarded him as one of the most influential politicians in the United States.”

The statement said a Russian presidential representative will be sent to Nixon’s funeral.

Yeltsin’s remarks contrasted with his angry reaction when Nixon arrived in Moscow in March and met with several of Yeltsin’s political archenemies.

Yeltsin later lifted a ban on Russian government officials meeting with Nixon but did not himself receive Nixon.

Shortly before his fatal stroke, the former President was discussing the possibility of a return visit to meet with Yeltsin, Nixon’s adviser on Russian affairs said Saturday.

Dimitri K. Simes said Nixon had been approached from “senior levels of the Russian government” to learn whether the ex-President would be willing to travel to Moscow.

“He was willing to go provided that it was also certain that the invitation came directly from Yeltsin, and that this time there would be no misunderstandings,” Simes said. Yeltsin’s press office said Saturday evening that it was not aware of any such discussions.

“It was a matter of pride to him to be able to respond to insults when necessary, but to stay above them in the purpose of a higher interest,” Simes said in a telephone interview from Washington, where he heads the Russian program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Nixon, a frequent visitor to Moscow and one of Yeltsin’s earliest champions, felt his mission was “being effective on behalf of Russian democracy,” Simes said.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev also expressed his condolences to Nixon’s family, saying: “Nixon’s contribution to the search for an end to the Vietnam War and, of course, his efforts in reducing the arms race and lessening international tension will enter into history.”

Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk fondly remembered Nixon’s visit to Kiev last month. “Mr. Nixon deeply understood the problems facing Ukraine in establishing statehood, and sincerely tried to facilitate their resolution,” he said. “The Ukrainian people give heartfelt thanks for his friendship and cooperation.”

In China, where Nixon’s “Ping-Pong” diplomacy led to the reopening of U.S. relations with the world’s most populous nation, top leaders praised the former President for bringing both countries closer.

In a telegram of condolence, President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng hailed Nixon as “a politician with strategic long-term vision and political courage (who) . . . opened the door for a new era in Sino-American relations.”

Tang Wensheng, who interpreted for Chairman Mao Tse-tung and Premier Chou En-lai during Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in 1972, echoed that view.

“History has proved,” Tang said in a telephone interview Saturday, “that the bold decision to normalize Sino-U.S. relations was wise and farsighted.”

Chinese national television began its Saturday night news programs with the report of Nixon’s death. The New China News Agency described Nixon, who visited China five times after his historic February, 1972, trip, as “an old friend of the Chinese people.”

Particularly saddened were the Zheng family, owners of a popular “Western-style” restaurant near the entrance of the Qing Dynasty Summer Palace on the outskirts of Beijing. Although its Chinese name is Wei Lan, the restaurant is popularly known as “Nixon’s Restaurant” because of a 1985 visit the former President paid during a personal investigation of market reforms in China.

A large photograph of Nixon and chef Zheng Weizhi hangs prominently on one wall of the restaurant.

“Since he came in and had a picture taken with my father,” said Zheng Haibin, the chef’s son, “business has done very well. We owe our success to him.”

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry had only a one-sentence reaction to Nixon’s death: “May he rest in peace.”

Northern Vietnamese remember Nixon as the man whose bombers pounded the big cities of Hanoi and Haiphong during the Vietnam War.

“We won’t grieve over his death,” said retired soldier Hoa Van Tap, 63, who now repairs bicycles on Hanoi’s streets. “But the war is over and he is dead, and as we say, ‘Although there is hatred, death is the end.’ ”

A government official said ordinary Vietnamese no longer had special feelings about Nixon.

“He belongs to history, the history of the Vietnam conflict,” he said. “I don’t think we have any personal feelings in favor of or against Mr Nixon. He did what he had to do.”

General Vo Nguyen Giap, architect of the Communist victory in that war, was not available for comment on Nixon’s death.

In Phnom Penh, an adviser to both of the Cambodian prime ministers said the Cambodian people would not look back on Nixon with ill will.

Nixon initiated a secret bombing campaign against Cambodia to eliminate sanctuaries for Vietnamese Communist rebels during the war and ordered a joint U.S.-South Vietnamese invasion of eastern Cambodia.

“Even if he did something bad to Cambodia in the past, we should not recall it now because it brings us nothing,” said Muon Saokhan, adviser to First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In other reaction from around the world:

* British Prime Minister John Major, in a message to President Clinton, paid tribute to Nixon “for his tireless work for a better understanding between East and West. He was a leading architect of the process which led to the end of the Cold War, and his judgment of international affairs was widely respected.”

Queen Elizabeth II sent a message of condolence to Nixon’s family, but Buckingham Palace did not release details of the message.

* Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Nixon had defied the world by supporting Israel in the 1973 Mideast War. “Israel lost a friend. I personally lost a personal friend,” Rabin told army radio Saturday, adding that he first met Nixon in 1966 and had maintained a close relationship till the very end.

* Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa praised Nixon’s efforts to improve post-World War II relations, particularly the 1972 return of its southernmost island, Okinawa.

“We feel deep sorrow for losing the U.S. leader, who marked an era in the postwar international political scene,” Hosokawa said in a statement.

* French President Francois Mitterrand’s office quoted a message of sympathy to Nixon’s older daughter, Patricia Cox, as saying: “I am convinced that history will remember the great role that (your father) played on the international stage.”

* Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos expressed sadness at the death and praised Nixon’s initiative to ease tensions and open dialogue at the height of the Cold War.

* Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said Nixon had improved U.S. relations across the Pacific.

“He corrected United States foreign policy misjudgments of the late 1940s, particularly in relation to North Asia,” Keating said.

Times wire services contributed to this story.