-SECRET Sl GRBi ' 6715 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DECLASSIFIED PER E O 13526 i 0 5 - 0191· f ' -1 c oi 3 3 ' ' 6 1 MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT Telcon with President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation U PARTICIPANTS The President President Yeltsin Interpreter Demitry Zarechnak Notetaker Beth Sanner DATE TIME AND PLACE September 7 1993 11 40am - 12 10pm Oval Office The President Hello Boris President Yeltsin U Greetings Bill U The President I just wanted to call and check in with you I haven't talked with you since the G-7 summit I know you are going through some difficult times I just want you to know that I'm thinking of you in these difficult times and to tell you still have my support P f' Prime Minister Chernomyrdin was just here ·It was a great visit He and Vice President Gore got off to a great start on the Agreement on S a9e Cooperation and the Joint Commission on Energy and Space t £ President Yeltsin Bill I am also satisfied that at last I have a chance to talk and to ha'v e discussions on a number of questions I am also satisfied with the results of visit of Prime Minister -Chernomyrdin and the first results of the GoreChernomyrdin Commission if I can call it that 21 The President I am as well I hope we can move forward and do more work on energy projects and environmental cleanup These are areas that U S companies are anxious to participa_t e in There are a number of large projects pending approval in the oil and gas sector Prime Minister Chernomyrdin said he would speed the process Texaco has been in touch with me concerning their deal at Timon Pechora I hope we can make progress on these things because I think they can be a help to the Russian economy ¢ President Yeltsin I agree We will tak the necessary steps It's a pity we couldn't sign the contract on Highly Enriched Si CRF'll Declassify on OADR -SEGRET From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive • · ssCR' E T Uranium We must move promptly and settle the Ukrainian aspect of this problem -8' The President I will do what I can to support resolution of that I understand you had a successful meeting with President Kravchuk Did you reach agreement on early deactivation of missiles in Ukraine and transfer to Russia lS' Of course they are aware of U S willingness to provide $175 million in compensation But they are not satisfied with that figure And they would like to obtain more from you I told them that they would need to resolve that with the U S I said that now that Ukraine has relations with the U S it is up to the two sides to resolve this matter c n We also resolved the Black Sea Fleet matter finally As Ukraine owes $2 5 billion to Russia we will get their part of the fleet as payment for this debt With this eventuality all the fleet will belong to Russia and we will keep the base at Sevastopol I believe the Crimea trip has been highly productive The President Thanks How do you assess the position of Kravchuk at home Is he in better shape President Yeltsin No worse off $1 The President Same with all of us maybe President Yeltsin Well in the first place the situation concerns the state of the economy They have gotten off to a late start for economic reform compared to Russia Because of this they are in bad economic shape $- The President I understand that Congratulations on your decision to withdraw your troops from Lithuania I know you face domestic opposition But the decision you made was courageous and the right thing to do I was wondering about your plans for Estonia and Latvia 81 President Yeltsin In the first place next week we will pull out all our troops from Poland C 8' The President Great U President Yeltsin In Latvia and Estonia it is more difficult because of their failure to comply with the human rights of ethnic Russians living there S1 SECft 't' -SEGRE f From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive President Yeltsin I must tell you about Crimea This was one of the most productive meetings we have had with Ukraine with Kravchuk We finally reached agreement on strategic nuclear weapons The agreement calls for the total removal in 24 months of nuclear warheads to Russia for their elimination As a trade off we will give Ukraine Low Enriched Uranium for use at nuclear power plan ts 8' - --SECRET The President SEBRET Is there anything we can do to push that 8' The President I wanted to raise a few other issues with you Congress is back in session today I want you to know we wil_l be working hard on passing the $2 5 billion assistance package for Russia It is now before the Senate it has already passed the House It will be a difficult fight but I think we will win it It is difficult not because there isn't support for Russian aid the difficulties are because of our own budget problems But I'm confident we will win it §1 We also are planning on passing a law this fall to eliminate the legislative remnants of the Cold War system We also are working on transforming COCOM with our allies and we hope to get a new system where you could be members 8' We are very encouraged about the recent breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations We look forward to working with you on this important issue Secretary Christopher recently talked to Foreign Minister Kozyrev about coming to Washington for the signing ceremony I hope to find out in the next couple of days that this will come about Bf President Yeltsin I am very appreciative of your stand on granting us $2 5 billion and your efforts with the Congress on enacting this package I know this is an uphill battle But I know you will win and also on the repeal of the 60 pieces of legislation you just mentioned as well as on COCOM reform In respect to the Middle East and Palestine I wish to congratulate you on this victory and of course Kozyrev will go there I will instruct him appropriately From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive President Yeltsin Only in the sense that you can try to exert influence on them so that they can change their legislation especially in the sense that it affects Russia We pulled out from Lithuania because their legislation does not adversely affect Russians living there We would be prepared to pull out from Latvia and Estonia provided there are no discriminatory attitudes toward Russians there We are taking queue from the U S because you have been working quite well in the area of protecting your minorities UJ1 We still have the question of Yugoslavia to discuss Here we will have to work jointly with the Serbs so we can finally have resolution on this issue The President Thank you I hope we can resolve this through the peace talks The Serbs and Croats seem more willing to negotiate for peace recently If there is anything you can do to help resolve this issue we would very much appreciate it We seem fairly close on the land issue I hope we can resolve the negotiations before winter I am worried about going through another winter over there without peace f President Yeltsin Bill I can simply assure you that we will continue to work very hard with the Serbs Before coming to the -SBCREY -S6CRE ' ·I II - - •I S GRE F • · 8DCftET U S Kozyrev will fly to Sarajevo so he can do something and put more pressure on the Serbs 8 Bill I am very happy we had this chance to talk I am quite appreciative of the fact you called first this time e1 President Yeltsin I'll call you within a very short time especially in connection with questions about our domestic life and the situation in parliament I'm right now engaged in a bit of fighting with parliament which is moving away from reforms and the changes we are trying to make But I hope that in the long run I will prevail r The President c e' I surely hope so We will be pulling for you President Yeltsin Thank you Bill I am very glad to have had this conversation and to hear your voice U The President Thank you Boris President Yeltsin Goodbye Good bye U U -- End of Conversation $ECRB-'i' SEGRET- From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive The President It won't be long till we talk again Please call me anytime If I don't hear from you soon I will call you in a couple of weeks e1