“We want to be helpful,” said George Bush. But his administration has its own money problems, and it still thinks extensive aid to Moscow would be wasted. A key presidential adviser described the latest Soviet economic-reform plan as “a Rube Goldberg contraption that will collapse in the first crosswind.” Bush could help in other ways. He is inclined to extend a waiver that allows Moscow to receive U.S. trade credits. He might be persuaded to allow Mikhail Gorbachev to appear as a guest speaker at next month’s economic summit in London.
And now that Washington and Moscow seem to be resolving their arms-control differences, Bush is ready for a one-on-one summit with Gorbachev, perhaps within the next few weeks. But the president and his advisers don’t want to talk about money until Moscow implements economic reform and meets other conditions: reduced military spending, greater flexibility on the Baltic republics and curtailed support for Cuba. Until that happens, they say, the Grand Bargain is not a good deal.
