Gorbachev and Yeltsin Get Equal Time From Nixon; He Lauds Both
MOSCOW — Former President Richard Nixon accorded Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Russian Federation leader Boris N. Yeltsin equal status Tuesday, holding separate 90-minute meetings with the rivals at the Kremlin.
Nixon, completing his seventh trip to Moscow, renewed his acquaintance with Gorbachev in the morning and then in the afternoon met Yeltsin for the first time.
“There is no question about President Gorbachev being an international political leader,” Nixon told reporters after his talks with Yeltsin. “He has demonstrated that over the past six years. I know he and (Russian Parliament) Chairman Yeltsin disagree on some things, that’s putting it mildly. But I must say that I think there has been a tendency to underestimate Mr. Yeltsin.
“Some say he is a political heavyweight and an intellectual lightweight. They are wrong. He is a very formidable political leader.”
Nixon said his meetings with the two men convinced him they might still be able to work together to help resolve the country’s grave problems, despite their current feud and Yeltsin’s recent attacks on Gorbachev for stalling on reforms.
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