Moscow - President Yeltsin and his South African counterpart, President Mandela, yesterday lavished praise on one another for having helped change the course of history.
The two leaders held an emotional and friendly meeting. Mr Yeltsin (68) boasted of his good health to the former political prisoner, but was clearly still preoccupied with the Kosovo crisis as he paid tribute to Mr Mandela's role in Yugoslavia, rather than South Africa.
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday vowed on Thursday to develop tactical as well as strategic nuclear weapons, but defence experts said the announcement was political rather than military muscle-flexing.