U.S. Dealt Setback in Efforts to Seek Overall Peace Accord in Bosnia

February 20, 1994|DOYLE McMANUS | TIMES STAFF WRITER

The picture is further complicated by the suddenly renewed enthusiasm of Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin for a major role in the negotiations. Russian nationalists have complained that the West was victimizing the Serbs, who like most Russians are Eastern Orthodox Christians; and Yeltsin has responded by promising to protect the Serbs' interests.

"The sense of Yeltsin's letter (to Clinton last week) was: 'You've got your dog in this fight and we've got ours--but where during the Cold War that would have put us on opposite sides, this time we're in cahoots, trying to get everybody to agree to a settlement,' " a senior official said.

"The only problem is that the Serbs don't need a good deal. The Serbs already have a good deal. . . . So there's a bit of a dysfunction there," he said.

If negotiations do progress, the Administration will face another problem that officials don't like to talk about: Carrying out a peace agreement will require money and troops. Clinton has promised to provide as many as 15,000 U.S. peacekeeping troops if a settlement is reached--but his eagerness to send them may fade rapidly as the November congressional elections approach.

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