We`ve taken the view that if the rest of the world would democratize and create market economies, that would spread the benefits of prosperity around the world, and that it would enhance our own prosperity, and our own stability and security, as well.
We`re going to have to forgive a great deal of the Soviet era debt. There`s no question about that. Let`s face up to that. We`re going to have to put in money if Russia is really going to consolidate a democracy.
We, being the Western world, wouldn`t let Russia off the hook on debt. So there were demands on debt servicing in the early days until they ran out of reserves. There was no real aid program, just a fictional aid program.