Yeltsin Says He’d Back Gorbachev Against Any Conservative Threat

STRASBOURG, France —  Russian leader Boris N. Yeltsin said he would stand by his archrival, President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, if he were in danger from conservatives.

“The right is preparing disasters for democracy, and when we see that we act to prevent the right from advancing,” the leader of the powerful Russian Federation, on a rare trip to the West, told socialist members of the European Parliament.

“In that struggle we are prepared to cooperate with President Gorbachev,” he said.

He said he would fight for democracy against whomever endangered it, “whatever his past merits may be,” warning that he would not let Gorbachev renounce his reform principles.

He faced a barrage of sometimes angry questions on his relations with Gorbachev and support for Soviet nationalists.

“You oppose Gorbachev, who put an end to the Cold War,” one member of the Parliament told him. “Frankly, we feel more secure with Gorbachev.”

“Stop moralizing,” Yeltsin cut in.

“If you don’t want to face unpleasant questions, don’t come to a democratic parliament,” the parliamentarian snapped. “You know where the door is.”