WASHINGTON, May 5 -- An official Russian statement issued Friday politely applauding a recent campaign speech by Vice President Al Gore has raised the question of whether Moscow is weighing in with an undiplomatic endorsement in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Even though Russia's foreign ministry pointedly praised Gore's foreign policy address, the Russian embassy in Washington insists that it is not a move to back the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, the very issuance of the statement has fueled speculation that the move was a tacit endorsement by Moscow of the vice president over his main rival, Republican George W. Bush.


"The Kremlin has made its choice for now: it's Gore," declared Ariel Cohen, a Russian expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.

In the statement from Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry lauded Gore's "foreign policy priorities" laid out in a campaign speech the vice president delivered Sunday in Boston. In a carefully-worded sign that the Kremlin approved of Gore's positions on the campaign trail, the Russian statement also described Gore as "the Democratic candidate" and noted that "a good deal of attention in the speech was paid to Russian-American relations."

"The U.S. vice president stressed the importance of joint international efforts to address increasingly global problems which endanger international security and stability," the statement said. "These are international terrorism, organized crime, 'narco-business' and environmental problems. Such an approach is (consistent) with the position of the Russian side."


In what was billed as a major foreign policy speech by his campaign, Gore largely stuck to administration positions in engaging Russia. But he also sought to differentiate himself by criticizing Bush for being stuck in a "Cold War mindset" that saw Russia as the enemy.

Bush advisers immediately disputed Gore's comments, but the vice president's words seem to have resonated inside the walls of the Kremlin.

Even as Washington and Moscow skirmish diplomatically over U.S. plans to consider building a limited ballistic missile defense system, the Russian statement praised Gore for "enhancing dialoguewith a view to reducing the nuclear threat."

Gore is deeply involved in diplomatic dealings with Russia and holds regular meetings of a joint commission with the Russia's prime pinister.

The Russian comments even sought to position Gore ahead of his boss, lame duck President Clinton, before a June U.S.-Russian summit with the Russian president.

"We believe that the global problems mentioned by the U.S. vice president in his speech will feature prominently during the upcoming meeting between (President) Vladimir Putin and Bill Clinton in Moscow," the statement said.

Russia insists that the statements are totally unrelated to U.S. presidential politics.

"There is nothing to do with the campaign," Mikhail Shurgalin, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said in an interview. "It's just the ideas that the Foreign Ministry decided deserved a comment or a statement."

Shurgalin cautioned, "Don't find in the statement what it does not say." Citing the normal diplomatic policy of not becoming publicly involved in domestic elections of another nation, Shurgalin noted "never would a country endorse a candidate in another country."


But Russian expert Cohen said "senior Russian administration officials told me they really agonized over this," but decided to take a stance in favor of Gore.

He said he noted that Gore and President Clinton backed Boris Yeltsin right up to his surprise New Year's Eve announcement that he was handing over the presidency to Putin, his handpicked successor.

"While the Clinton administration has supported Boris Yeltsin through thick and thin, through the war in Chechnya and heart surgery, the Russians feel now that they have to pay back by supporting Al Gore," he said.

And Cohen noted that Gore has staunchly supported U.S. aid to Russia and made conciliatory comments on the dispute over amending the ABM treaty to provide for a missile defense system.

"Gore's positions on the ABM Treaty and economic assistance are music to Moscow's ears." Cohen opined. "However, it is far from certain how the U.S. public will react to this Moscow enthusiasm about the vice president."

Even if Moscow is trying to send a signal of support for Gore, however subtle, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was still careful to hedge his bets during a recent visit to Washington. Ivanov made certain that he met with Bush to touch base on critical U.S.-Russian issues.

Russian spokesman Shurgalin declared, "We would be comfortable with the gentleman whom the American people decide to elect president."