West Must Help Russia

These are grim and perilous days for Russia, and worse may be coming. President Boris Yelstin’s unmistakable physical and mental decline has left him incapable of functioning effectively. In Moscow, the new prime minister and finance minister concede they don’t have a clue about how to manage the deepening economic crisis. And now Russia faces its worst harvest since the 1950s. Already heavily dependent on food imports, Russia has had to alert the European Union, the United States and Canada of its need for huge emergency shipments of grain, meat and other commodities, as well as medicines.

That help should be given, first because it is a humanitarian necessity, but no less because the West would be damaging its political interests if it fails to act. Unrelieved food shortages over the coming winter could prove the precursor of a radical political upheaval that would be likely to see power pass into the hands of ultranationalists and communists. In recent years, as Yeltsin’s grip on power has weakened, the West has found Moscow harder to work with than in the heady days of international amity that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. If radical forces take power in Russia, a new era of confrontation would loom.

Russia almost certainly cannot afford to pay for all of the food and other help it needs. Much of what it seeks will have to be financed through long-term credits or provided as a gift. Some, especially members of Congress, are sure to balk at such generosity. It will be up to wiser heads in Washington--no doubt with plenty of help from the farm lobby--to persuade the doubters that prudent aid is very much in the interests of the United States.

But looming food shortages are only one aspect of Russia’s crisis. On Monday, Russians and the world had a dramatic reminder of the political uncertainty hanging over the country when a clearly ill Yeltsin was forced to cut short his visit to neighboring Kazakhstan. Once again, the official explanation was that the president has a respiratory infection. The Russian press on its part attributes Yeltsin’s woes to Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, aggravated by renewed heavy drinking.

Whatever the truth, it seems increasingly less likely that Yeltsin will complete the remaining two years of his term. In this volatile climate, timely humanitarian aid from the West--again, in its own interests--could have some positive influence on the political direction Russia takes.