WHILE President Bill Clinton was trundled into town aboard a Finnair catering truck yesterday, his Russian counterpart, Mr Boris Yeltsin, strode vigorously off a brand new presidential jet - part of a slick Russian look that shows the Kremlin is becoming as image conscious as the White House.
Mr Yeltsin's version of Air Force One, based on an Ilyushin 96, was built in Russia but finished in Switzerland at a total cost of some £45 million. Lavishly fitted out, it houses 14 tons of medical and communications equipment and a nuclear control unit.
Mr Yeltsin's stylish approach to travel is matched by the smooth appearance of Kremlin officials on the ground. Russian summiteers here are parading in smart navy jackets and the latest mobile phones - a far cry from the brown nylon suits of cold war years.
"Our country lived for many years under the impression that it is permissible to go to an official function in a light coloured suit that mineral water can be replaced by tap water. All this is in the past now," the presidential business affairs manager, Mr Pavel Borodin, told a surprised news conference in Moscow yesterday.
Mr Valery Kulikov, who is running the Helsinki summit's Russian press operation, said the president would still use a Russian made Zil limousine. But he refused to apologise for officials driving foreign cars in Moscow.
"I see some of you reporters wearing Pierre Cardin and Versace and Valentino neckties," Mr Kulikov said. "This is not only attractive, but these neckties wear longer and look better than the produce of the Red October factory."
Reuter adds from Buenos Aires: Up to 80 per cent of Russians live in dire poverty and current policies favour only 10 per cent of the people, the former Soviet president, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, said in an Argentine newspaper interview.
"Sixty per cent of the Russian population lives in absolute poverty according to official data. We believe the rate is higher and may be as much as 80 per cent," Mr Gorbachev told La Nacion newspaper.
"It's possible that civilian society could erupt," said the man who introduced the former Soviet Union to glasnost and perestroika only to see the reforms flounder.
"I don't like saying these things, but there are people who have not been paid their wages for six months. There are 22 million people unemployed. That is a very dangerous burden," Mr Gorbachev said.
The former president is visiting Argentina as president of the environmental group Green Cross.