Russian leader embracing Eastern Time sees light (7)
I believe the answer is:
lenient
'light' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'russian leader embracing eastern time' is the wordplay.
'russian leader' becomes 'lenin' (Vladimir Lenin).
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'lenin' enclosing 'e' is 'lenien'.
'lenien'+'t'='LENIENT'
'sees' is the link.
(Other definitions for lenient that I've seen before include "Easy, soft" , "Inclined to let people off lightly" , "Light" , "Forbearing" , "Forgiving, soft" .)