CO 6 8 3 815 BIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2017-13804 Doc No C06838158 Date 10 19 2021 TH WHII HUU I IUAI JUN UUM 07 07 ' 94 16 l 0 NO 1460051 182 PAGE 3 5387 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT Telcon with Boris Yeltsin of Russia on 5 July 1994 PARTICIPANTS The President President Yeltsin Interpreter Kyrill Borissov Notetaker John Beyrle DATE TIME AND PLACE The President RELEASE IN FULLJ IDECLASSIFIEDI 5 July 1994 9 31-9 49 EDT Oval Office Hello Boris U President Yeltsin Bill hello U The President It's nice to hear your voice forward to seeing you in Naples U I am looking President Yeltsin Yes we will have a couple meetings in Naples I am planning to have a one-on-one meeting with you in Naples in addition to meetings with other people 0 The President I wanted to talk to you about my trip to Europe I plan to stop in Riga· and Warsaw and then go to Naples U President Yeltsin Baltics U I'd like to make a fe v' comments on the The President Yes I wanted to talk to you a bit about that and Nap_les before we meet there U President Yeltsin I r9te to you about that earlier In Riga I would like you to talk to the people in Estonia and Latvia and tell· them that -the u s ' is against any inf1 ingement on the rights o·f the Russian-speaking people there I know you and the Secretary of State have been working on this but there have been no results so far We ne ed a public statement from you that the U S will not support any infringement on the rights of the Russian-speaking people If you do so the people in Estonia and Latvia and some officials in their Parliaments will act differently Th re was· a riew Latvia·n ·1aw ·na9t d- that ·will push out r etired Russian ·milita _ry peqple i ind_·o ficers This is not good This is not how one should act in a civilized world You see we made a decision regarding the pullout four troops from Lithuania and also made an agreement with Latvia regarding a pullout in August from Latvia With regards to Estonia the Estonian Deputy Foreign Minister and Minister Churkin have just concluded·talks in Geneva There is progress but Estonia SBCRB Declassify on OADR Declassification Authority Geoffrey W Chapman Senior Reviewer A GIS IPS 8 6 2020 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2017-13804 Doc No C06838158 Date 10 19 2021 CO 6 8 3 815 8 IED • I I w 1 vo Ji U S Department of State Case No F-2017-13804 Doc No C06838158 Date 10 19 2021 _ I I vn I I Vl'II I I l VVIYI nJ U I U ' 14 10 I I l U_ 140UU 1 ll jc 1-'AG 5387 ECRi X continues to insist that all army pensioners under age 54 be withdrawn This is unacceptable on both common sense and political grounds We are prepared to show flexibility but are not prepared to accept infringements on the rights of the Russian minorities The U S has shown great urrderstanding on this issue before --t-S-r The President I understand your concerns In Riga I plan to meet with the three Baltic Presidents I will raise the issue of the Russian minorities You know my opinion on this issue Russians and other ethnic groups must be included in the political and social life of these countries I was pleased- that President Ulmanis sent the bill back to Parliament It's good to see progress on troop withdrawal I hope the process will be completed by the end of August I will continue to push them on the issue of Russian minorities rights I hope that when we meet _at the end of September this issue will not be on the agenda 3 President Yeltsin Well Bill if they don't stop raising the question of Russian languag·e minorities there we will not be able to pull out our troops by August If Latvia and Estonia enact laws offering equal status to the Russian language speakers there then we will make every effort to pull out our troops by August Bill I'd like you to say this publicly so that world public opinion will know about it World public opinion will not support their position on this i s s u e The President I understand I will do what I can I will speak to President Meri in particular I will try to be helpful I hope that when we meeting in Naples I will be able to report to you on this It is important to continue to make progress I will do what I can to push it t-5-r President Yeltsin Good Bill U The President In Warsaw I wapt to emphasize the tmporta ce of Partnership f or Peace and qur willingne s -to help all partners develop the capability t t ke part In January already I said that NATO's role will eventually expand But I set forth no timetable and no requirements I would like us to concentr te our efforts on the Partnership for Peace program so that we can achieve a united Europe where people respect each other's borders and work together -f iPresident Yeltsin · I have to say candidly Bill that with respect to Poland th position the·y take on ' this doe·s not cotresp ond- very closely with our-s Bill I know the re was a great propaganda campaign in Poland ·to incite Belar_usians to unite with Poland They keep saying Belarus belonged to Poland in history In addition I hear they are encouraging migration from the east to Poland People say they want to join NATO to become stronger and stronger They talk about threats Russia is not a threat to anyone There are a lot of other issues which UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2017-13804 Doc No C06838158 Date 10 19 2021 4 CO 6 8 3 815 gFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2017-13804 Doc No C06838158 Date 10 19 2021 - I U - 'f t • I l 1'4u 1'-'0UU Jt IOt ' t A t • 5387 SDCRE'f' we need to discuss in Naples I don't think we need to discuss them now on the phone There are many problems to discuss -The President I agree I just wanted to review my Warsaw ·stops with you I look forward to seeing you I am pleased you nd Russia will have a more leading year I think this partnership has been working out Riga and in Naples role this well U President Yeltsin Good Bill I believe this will be a very crucial trip - - very important for Europe ana·· the world U he President I'll see you soon call Boris U President Yeltsin Good luck Thank you for taking the Till we meet again U The President ·Good-bye U President Yeltsin Good-bye Thank you U End of Conversation - - I ECRD'P UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2017-13804 Doc No C06838158 Date 10 19 2021