2761 - 6 SGRE'f THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON SUBJECT Telcon with President Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine PARTICIPANTS The President President Leonid Kravchuk Notetaker Nicholas Burns Interpreter George Sajewych DATE TIME AND PLACE April 10 199 8 05 - 8 13am The Oval Office The President Mr President how are you U I will inform you of how President Kravchuk We are fine things are First on more optimistic matters I had a conversation with Boris Yeltsin earlier today We agreed to sign an agreement tomorrow on the relocation of nuclear warheads After that formal agreement concrete work will begin The President Very good President Kravchuk f Washington The President U I will give details on this when we meet in All right sir That is good news U President Kravchuk Now on the Black Sea fleet -- this has grown more complicated due to the fact that Vice President Rutskoi visited Ukraine without permission The other thing is that Yeltsin's decree put the Black Sea fleet on Ukrainian soil under Russian jurisdiction However under the influence of the I also decided realities of life Yeltsin suspended his decree negotiations launch to and mine of to suspend certain actions Yeltsin signed a decree naming a Russian delegation to discuss this and I signed a decree naming a Ukrainian delegation The j two delegations will begin work on Monday The President development S'BQRE' f Declassify on That's encouraging right ¢ OADR Isn't that a positive DECLASSIFIED PER E O 13526 Qooq- d1LlLl- MR lS 6 l'6 10 From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION ---2- 4ibkm ii _ President Kravchuk Yes this is the beginning of concrete I think they will proceed properly Earlier negotiations today I had a conversation with Yeltsin about Moldova The foreign ministers of Ukraine Russia Moldova and Romania met in 1 Moldova I believe this was a great success The President Very good very good U President Kravchuk Moldova is proposing that the Ukrainian army should form a barrier between the hostile parties After decisions are taken I think Yeltsin Snegur the Romanians and I j should have consultations to take some practical steps The President Leonid thank you very much That is good news on the discussions you and Boris Yeltsin had on the first problem on the Black Sea fleet and on Moldova That is the way 1 to solve your problems Please feel free to give me your ideas in confidence to Ed Hewett and his team going there in a few days Please tell your If you Ministers that these three men have my total confidence level with them tell them what is in your heart they will tell me and we will be able to guarantee the success of your visit 7 here President Kravchuk Yes we will do that U The President Okay Thank you for the courtesy of this call U Good luck as you wrestle with these problems I want to send my best to you and wish you President Kravchuk U every success in your election campaign The President Thank you sir Goodbye U End of Conversation -- SSSRE'f From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive I will give you details on These were the most topical issues I will inform you of the assistance we require them on May 6 I do want to express my gratitude about your from you $ announcement to Congress last week