Christopher, Kremlin Colleague Agree to Disagree

After two days of talks on topics ranging from NATO expansion to Iranian nuclear technology, Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov said Saturday that their first meeting represented a good start toward building a cooperative relationship--but that differences remain.

“We have differences. And apparently there will be differences. But all this must be done without going into confrontation that would be extremely dangerous not only for our relations but for the entire world, for the world order that is being set up,” Primakov said at a joint news conference.

Christopher later told reporters that the talks represented the beginning of a “practical working relationship” that would build on the close ties established with Primakov’s more pro-West predecessor Andrei V. Kozyrev. The secretary of state called the wide-ranging talks with Primakov “content-filled, straightforward and businesslike.”

“The areas where we have common ground far outweigh the other areas,” Christopher said at the news conference.

The major difference to emerge from the meeting was clearly expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Russia vehemently opposes. But in a reflection of the cooperative spirit during the six hours of talks, Primakov did not make threatening noises about Russian efforts to form its own alliance--an idea suggested last week by Russian Defense Minister Pavel S. Grachev.

“We must find a solution that would satisfy both sides as well as the Eastern and Central European countries,” said Primakov, a longtime Communist spymaster whose appointment last month had worried some U.S. officials.

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In a one-on-one dinner Friday night, a senior U.S. official said, Christopher cited examples of cooperative efforts that the two countries should build on: Russia’s membership in Partnership for Peace--a program that is developing ties between NATO and some former Warsaw Pact countries--and the unprecedented coordination between Russian and American troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Christopher also agreed to dispatch special Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross to Moscow soon for talks with the Russians. Russia is a co-sponsor of the peace process in the region but has not been included in basic aspects of the effort, such as the Syrian-Israeli negotiations that will resume in Maryland later this month.

As for the Persian Gulf, where U.S. and Russian policies seriously diverge, Primakov said he reassured Christopher that Moscow does not intend to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability from a nuclear reactor project now being developed with Russian technology.

The $1-billion Russian deal with Tehran does “not go beyond the framework or borders that would be dangerous for the world,” Primakov said.

Yet in what amounted to a declaration of independence in foreign policy on the eve of the Helsinki talks, Primakov invited Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati to Moscow--underscoring the close relationship Russia’s new foreign minister helped develop when he was intelligence chief. The United States is attempting to contain Tehran because of its support of extremist groups and opposition to the Mideast peace process.

Russia also signed a $10-billion contract last week with Iraq to redevelop its oil industry. Christopher said one of the “pleasant surprises” during the talks was Primakov’s assurance that the deal will not go through until the United Nations lifts sanctions against Iraq dating to the Persian Gulf War.

But the contract still clearly provides a psychological boost to Baghdad--in stark contrast to a U.S. policy aimed at tightening the political, economic and military noose around the regime of President Saddam Hussein.