His meaning was not clear, but it is obvious that everything on the summit agenda is now part of a complicated bargaining process. Nothing will be settled until everything is. Whether the summit falls apart depends partly on how far Western governments are prepared to push the argument over Chechnya. A spokesman for French President Chirac said he would tell Mr Yeltsin as a friend that the bombardment of Chechnya was a mistake and the consequences for civilians unacceptable. The White House said it would not make sense for the US to block IMF loans to Russia.
Economic sanctions are clearly off the agenda.
The signs are that the West does not want an open breach with Moscow and that in the end, the security text will be signed. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.