C EGRET- 2901 THE WHITE HOUSE DECLASSIFIED PER E 0 13526 ao 6' oTga- KBW 3 13 toiS WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT Telephone Conversation with Russian President Yeltsin tsi PARTICIPANTS President Clinton President Boris Yeltsin Notetakers Robert Ford Michael T Manning Roger Merletti Matt Sibley Jim Smith Andrew Weiss Interpreter Nikolai Sorokin April 19 1999 9 30 - 10 13 a m EDT Oval Office DATE TIME AND PLACE THE PRESIDENT Hello Boris PRESIDENT YELTSIN U Good morning Bill U THE PRESIDENT Thank you for taking the call I wanted to talk to you about Kosovo today Kosovo is clearly one of the greatest tests we have faced for the Europe you and I have worked to achieve one which is free from communist dictatorships and is democratic and undivided I appreciate your heartfelt messages and am glad to see you involved in this problem We have solved some of the toughest problems by working together The best diplomatic outcome is one Russia helps bring about Russia is central in implementing a solution The meeting that Albright and Foreign Minister Ivanov had in Oslo went a long way in managing the differences between us and maximizing common ground I value the way they are working together and they must keep it up At the same time I am glad you are involving yourself in the search for a political settlement and I think it's important that you appointed Viktor Chernomyrdin to be your personal envoy Obviously all of us here know Viktor well We respect him and think he is a problem-solver and he has never had a bigger problem than this one I want to do whatever I can to support you in these -SE Rer- Classified by Glyn T Davies Reason 1 5 d 4 20 09 Declassify On CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY • ECRE 2 efforts I want to appoint Strobe Talbott to work quietly and confidentially with Viktor He already had a good meeting with Ambassador Jim Collins and if you are agreeable Jim will be back in touch with him to coordinate diplomatic efforts Strobe will report to me and Madeleine and I will see what I can do to help I know Boris how high the stakes are We're trying to achieve a lasting peace in the Balkans but also an outcome that would ensure Russia a role in that peace and that would protect the legacy you and I have built by getting Russian and U S relations back on track which we have worked on for the last six and a half years CBT PRESIDENT YELTSIN Well Bill at this difficult time in international affairs and in U S -Russian relations we need to maintain constant contact I have never met such a difficult complicated issue as the ongoing NATO military action against Yugoslavia Let me reiterate that the developments of the past few weeks confirm that the U S and NATO have made a big mistake You have miscalculated the consequences of the situation itself Milosevic will never capitulate Instead of resolving the humanitarian problem what has been achieved is a giant humanitarian catastrophe and significant damage has occurred to U S -Russian relations I'll tell you quite frankly that the anti-American and anti-NATO sentiment in Russia keeps growing like an avalanche Great pressure is exerted on me and the Russian leadership as a whole in favor of taking measures to help Yugoslavia all the more so since NATO has helped the Albanian fighters We continue to oppose Russian involvement in the conflict but our ability to counteract those demands are limited We have to take emergency measures to try and switch to development of a peaceful political settlement I am satisfied that you accepted my proposal to have our foreign ministers meet That was the first meeting since the beginning of the Yugoslav conflict They succeeded in outlining the overall principles as Minister Ivanov told me in Moscow the overall application of which would enable us to achieve a breakthrough and turn around this situation But to be able to achieve that all violence and repression should be stopped in Kosovo and the safe return of refugees should be ensured regardless of their ethnicity International humanitarian organizations should be given access throughout Yugoslavia and primarily Kosovo ISrl We also share positions regarding the need for the resumption of work on a political framework agreement that would maintain JECRET CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY 3 broad-based autonomy for Kosovo and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia in full accordance with international law At most the greatest differences between us have to do with the question of an international presence in Kosovo We understand that without international support no safe return of refugees can be possible but the question of international presence should be dealt with and resolved taking into account the political leadership of Yugoslavia Please believe me that it took us a great amount of effort to gain consent on the part of Milosevic for an international civilian presence and I think we should be farsighted enough to build on these achievements I appointed Mr Chernomyrdin as my special envoy for Yugoslavia because he is a neutral person and has no other concerns His primary concern will be Yugoslavia We discussed the situation specifically in great detail C f' Bill what I think is needed now with Kosovo is a strong Albanian leader so we can get them both to the negotiating table — Milosevic and the strong Albanian leader Of course we also need signals from NATO if we are to cut our losses in finding a way out of this situation It is clear as day that Yugoslavia will not accept a military mission particularly if it is a NATO-led mission because for a long time they will be allergic to NATO I think other avenues should be explored and we should come up with a compromise that Milosevic will grudgingly have to accept We think obviously such an option would be for UN blue helmets based on Security Council resolutions We think it would be necessary to have among the blue helmets a contingent of Russian forces Should we accept this position and common understanding I think we can instruct our foreign ministers to ■collaborate on this in detail Now there is one thing standing in the way of negotiations That is the bombardment and the bombardment should be stopped Of course it is easily understood that it is hard to think of a settlement when bombs and missiles are exploding all around you I think a proper pretext should be found for making a pause in the bombardment It is completely up to you of course Such a step on your side would be the testimony of a statesman wisdom and an act of humanity For our part we will be prepared to fully cooperate with you and continue our pressure on Milosevic As for Chernomyrdin I gave him a special airplane to fly around to Muslim countries to -SECBF T CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY jBC-RET gain support for the Albanians Then it will be a realistic thing to bring the Albanians and Serbs to the negotiating table After that we could address the whole settlement issue by joint effort — the U S Russia Yugoslavia and NATO These are my proposals Bill What is your view THE PRESIDENT First I think it is good we agreed on the common principles the ending of attacks withdrawal of forces the safe return of refugees access for humanitarian organizations These create a foundation for a political solution that will allow the Serbs to preserve the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia provided we can ensure that Milosevic will implement it Now I think in order to implement these principles there needs to be an international presence in Kosovo that has both a military and nonmilitary element If there is no military element the Kosovars will never return The Serbs forces have burned all their villages burned them alive raped children and there is no way they will come back without military protection Here is the dilemma about a military force I don't care what it is called but if there is no NATO involvement we won't be able to get the Albanians to disarm We can get the KLA to disarm We can get the KLA to disarm and contrary to what you said we are not arming them There is a proposal in Congress to arm them But I oppose having the U S or Russia getting arms in there and stirring up the water so I have been resisting arming the Albanians On the other hand let me emphasize that I think it would be a grave mistake for there to be a military-diplomatic mission where Russians are not present We need Russians to make this work After all there is a Serb minority in Kosovo and they have to be protected too and know they are protected It is imperative that Albanian refugees feel protected that the Serb minority feels protected and that we have a basis on which we can disarm the Kosovar Albanians PRESIDENT YELTSIN The problem that needs to be addressed is that there are many Serbs among the refugees THE PRESIDENT I think we can find a formula I have said in every public statement that I have made that I want the force to have Russian participation and leadership and that I would personally not approve going into Kosovo unless our mandate includes protecting the Serbs as well as the Albanians in Kosovo In terms of a pause in the bombing NATO could and 3EG-RET CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY SECRET- 5 would stop tomorrow if Milosevic started withdrawing his forces The problem with stopping the bombing with no withdrawal at all is that we have been there before Last October we were promised'that and Milosevic broke his word before Before we started bombing he had 40 000 soldiers and 300 tanks and started to implement the plan he had drawn up last year and changed the military hierarchy so there'd be no opposition and went about flushing out the country He has to do something to show this is more than just words 121 I would like to agree that we are getting much closer to an agreement Let's instruct our teams to find a formula with a military component that is also sensitive to our concerns about NATO Strobe can work with Viktor It won't work unless Russia plays a leading role There is no way in the world this will work Boris unless Russia plays a military and political role and the Albanians and Serbs believe they will be protected in a formula where autonomy is genuine and the territory of Serbia is maintained It cannot happen unless we find a way to do this together PRESIDENT YELTSIN But then we were at a stage where Russia was not involved Russia can of course put pressure on Milosevic Bill as I said before Chernomyrdin will now go to several Muslim countries to try to help the Albanians After that he wants to go to Belgrade for a meeting with Milosevic and after that to see you I think it is a good option What is a great concern to me is this anti-American sentiment we have in Russia and that is what I am worried about We have spent too many efforts in all areas to let them all collapse overnight Xf THE PRESIDENT What about having Strobe come to Europe to meet with Chernomyrdin even sooner PRESIDENT YELTSIN That would be all right That can be done THE PRESIDENT Yes I think we ought to do that I can see that we are close enough to get an agreement I will have Ambassador Collins get in touch with Chernomyrdin to work it out I feel quite good about this conversation Boris We just have to work hard and stay in close touch CST PRESIDENT YELTSIN I feel that way too I agree with you and think we can find our way out We must find a way out -SECRET CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY -SE-eilET THE PRESIDENT All right We will do it This is a good conversation I'm glad to hear you and I appreciate your involvement in this U PRESIDENT YELTSIN I agree although I find it increasingly difficult to resist sentiments here I am subjected to violent attacks and assailed by the Communists They insist that I send armaments and equipment and that I send our troops there They are calling for an unleashing of a European and world-wide war and I am absolutely opposed to that Today I gave orders to repeal previous instructions to send seven ships to the conflict area so we will have just one ship a reconnaissance ship to provide us with information CSjT' We will not provide them with our military equipment though we are sending them humanitarian aid and doing it publicly in front of TV cameras What we are sending are foodstuffs and consumer goods We have already sent 100 cars and trucks with aid Bill just like you I think we have had a good conversation and think we too have avenues to explore where we can reach a common ground pSi THE PRESIDENT I agree Boris Thank you very much U PRESIDENT YELTSIN All right Let's just keep working on it Goodbye Bill U End of Conversation CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY