WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuter) - The Clinton administration said Friday it was trying to persuade Congress not to cut U.S. aid to Russia despite sharing the concerns of lawmakers over a Russian bill restricting religious minorities.

The Senate voted Wednesday to cut off aid to Russia if President Boris Yeltsin signed the bill, which would give a few major religions, such as Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, strong advantages over minority faiths.

The State Department said it had told Moscow it believed the bill was discriminatory and did not wish it to pass, but spokesman Nicholas Burns said this was a matter that Russia's government needed to work out with its parliament, the Duma.

Burns told a news briefing the administration had also made clear to Congress that ``it is not in the U.S. national interest to totally cut off, curtail American assistance to Russia because of one bill by the Russian Duma.''

He said the United States had ``a multiplicity of interests'' in Russia, including prevention of nuclear accidents or war, maintaining stability in Central Europe and developing military relations through a NATO-Russia charter.

``So why would we pick one law, and because of our unhappiness with that law...therefore cut off all that's important and positive in our relationship?'' he said.

The threatened curb on new assistance was approved as an amendment to a $13.2 billion foreign aid bill now moving through the Senate. The bill contains about $200 million in funds for Russia.

The House of Representatives has not yet considered its version of the foreign aid bill but several lawmakers have expressed the same strong concerns regarding the religious legislation, which has also been opposed by the Vatican.

Burns said the administration hoped that when the Senate and House came to blend their versions of the bill the amendment on religion would be dropped and U.S. aid to Russia would go forward.

The bill ``On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Association'' was passed by the Duma July 4 and the constitution gives Yeltsin 14 days to sign or veto it.

As the deadline expired Friday and foreign pressure mounted, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying he would sign it only if legal experts ruled that it tallied with the constitution and human rights rules.

---------------------

Johnson's Russia List

#1062

19 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org