Christopher Arrives in Moscow to Boost Yeltsin : Russia: Aides hope visit will also focus Americans’ attention on a country where Clinton’s foreign policy has had success.

MOSCOW — Secretary of State Warren Christopher arrived Thursday to give a U.S. vote of confidence to President Boris N. Yeltsin at the opening of Russia’s parliamentary election campaign--and, his aides hoped, to focus Americans’ attention on a country where the Clinton Administration’s foreign policy has enjoyed some visible success.

Christopher said he hopes to give Russians “some sense of hope and reassurance” that their new democracy can succeed; he is scheduled to make a speech that will be a virtual endorsement of Yeltsin only seven weeks before the country’s parliamentary elections, set for Dec. 12.

But even in Eastern Europe, which he visited before coming to Moscow, the secretary of state was dogged by questions about some of the reverses the Administration has suffered in recent weeks in Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

On his way across the Atlantic, Christopher spent several hours on the telephone talking with members of the Senate, asking for their votes to beat back Republican attempts to limit President Clinton’s freedom of maneuver in Haiti.

And in Budapest, Hungary, he was hit with tough questions from members of the American Chamber of Commerce, an audience that normally might have been gentler.

“I, as an American, am confused about . . . the United States’ foreign policy and its apparent incohesiveness,” complained Alex Benko, a commercial real estate developer from Dallas who has been working in Hungary for four years.

He asked Christopher, “What plans do you have . . . (to) put meat behind some of the words that apparently don’t have any meat behind them?”

“That’s a challenging question, isn’t it?” Christopher responded mildly, and then launched into a now-familiar defense of the Administration’s efforts.

“We’ve been dealing with three inherited problems, three problems that we found on our plate when we came into office . . . and that’s what you see in the headlines,” Christopher said, referring to Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti.

” . . . But on the main issues--on the big issues where our vital interests are definitely involved--I think the United States has been positive and has been successful,” he said, citing Clinton’s support for Yeltsin and his work on the Middle East peace talks.

Christopher should get a better reception here. The Clinton Administration has organized an international aid effort amounting to more than $43 billion in pledges and stood by Yeltsin this fall as he dismissed his Parliament and sent troops to blast his opponents out of their headquarters.

Christopher was scheduled to meet with Yeltsin today and said he hopes to learn about plans for the election, which U.S. officials openly hope will elect a solidly pro-Yeltsin Parliament to replace the dissolved conservative-led Congress of People’s Deputies.

In a departure from usual practice, Christopher’s schedule does not include meetings with any political figures outside Yeltsin’s inner circle. Secretaries of state often meet with leaders of democratic opposition groups during their travels, especially during election campaigns.

A senior State Department official said Christopher’s schedule was simply too crowded to fit in any other political figures, although he is spending almost two full days in Moscow.

A member of Yeltsin’s new political party, Russia’s Choice, said Christopher’s schedule shows that he wants that party to win.

“Christopher has made his choice. If he decided to support Yeltsin, he is naturally supporting the Russia’s Choice bloc,” said Boris A. Zolotukin, a former member of Parliament who is active in Yeltsin’s group.

Viktor L. Sheinis, a former pro-Yeltsin legislator who now supports a rival faction, unhappily agreed.

“I feel very sorry that Christopher is meeting with only one side of Russia’s democratic movement,” Sheinis said. “He will get a one-sided impression of the situation here. There will be more than one party in the elections that will make up the future Parliament. Christopher has narrowed his choice.”

Christopher also expected to discuss with Yeltsin the U.S. aid program, nuclear weapons cuts and the civil war in neighboring Georgia, officials said.

Separatists in Georgia’s Abkhazia region drove government forces from the Black Sea province last month, and now Georgian leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze also faces an insurrection by supporters of ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia in western Georgia.

The U.S. special envoy to the former Soviet Union, Strobe Talbott, said the Administration supports the Russian army’s actions to end the conflict in Georgia.

And Shevardnadze’s government released a letter from Clinton on Thursday expressing support.

“I have been following closely the tragic events unfolding in your country and want to assure you of my continued full support for your leadership and for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Clinton wrote.

Times staff writer Richard Boudreaux also contributed to this report.