Yeltsin, Kravchuk Meet at Kremlin Oil Deal Seems in Place, but Russian and Ukrainian Leaders Still Face Old Attitudes, Recent Fractious History

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WHEN Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kravchuk meet in the Kremlin today, they are likely to find that closer ties between the two Slavic states will require changing old attitudes.

Relations between the two largest members of the Commonwealth of Independent States have been strained most of the time since the Soviet Union's demise in December 1991. Bilateral agreements reached often have not held for long.

"In Russia and in Ukraine there are extremist forces with nationalist views that are big obstacles to creating normal bilateral relations," says Vadim Dolganov, press attache at Ukraine's Embassy in Moscow.

Both Mr. …