[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[June 16, 1992]
[Pages 944-947]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks With President Boris Yeltsin of Russia Announcing Strategic Arms 
Reductions and an Exchange With Reporters

June 16, 1992
    President Bush. Mr. President. Let me just say that I'm pleased to 
announce that President Yeltsin and I have just reached an extraordinary 
agreement on two areas of vital importance to our countries and to the 
world.
    First, we have agreed on far-reaching new strategic arms reductions. 
Building on the agreement reached with Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and 
Byelarus, our two countries are now agreeing to even further dramatic 
strategic arms reductions, substantially below the levels determined by 
START. We've agreed to eliminate the world's most dangerous weapons, 
heavy ICBM's and all other multiple warhead ICBM's, and dramatically 
reduce our total strategic nuclear weapons.
    Those dramatic reductions will take place in two phases. They will 
be completed no later than the year 2003 and may be completed as early 
as the year 2000 if the United States can assist Russia in the required 
destruction of ballistic missile systems. With this agreement the 
nuclear nightmare recedes more and more for ourselves, for our children, 
and for our grandchildren.
    Just a few years ago, the United States was planning a strategic 
nuclear stockpile of about 13,000 warheads. Now President Yeltsin and I 
have agreed that both sides will go down to 3,000 to 3,500 warheads, 
with each nation determining its own force structure within that range.
    I'd like to point out that this fundamental agreement, which in 
earlier years could not have been completed even in a decade, has been 
completed in only 5 months. Our ability to reach this agreement so 
quickly is a tribute to the new relationship between the United States 
and Russia and to the personal leadership of our guest, Boris Yeltsin.
    In the near future, the United States and Russia will record our 
agreement in a brief treaty document that President Yeltsin and I will 
sign and submit for ratification in our countries. President Yeltsin and 
I have also agreed to work together, along with the allies and other 
interested states, to develop a concept for global protection systems 
against limited ballistic missile attack.
    We will establish a senior group to explore practical steps towards 
that end, in-

[[Page 945]]

cluding the sharing of early warning and cooperation in developing 
ballistic missile defense capabilities and technologies. This group will 
also explore the development of a legal basis for cooperation, including 
new treaties and agreements and possible changes to existing treaties 
and agreements necessary to implement the global protection system. That 
group, headed by Dennis Ross for the United States, will first meet in 
Moscow within the next 30 days.
    In conclusion, these are remarkable steps for our two countries, a 
departure from the tensions and the suspicions of the past and a 
tangible, important expression of our new relationship. They also hold 
major promise for a future world protected against the danger of limited 
ballistic missile attack.
    Mr. President, all yours.
    President Yeltsin. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. I would like 
to add a few words to what President Bush has just announced here. What 
we have achieved is an unparalleled and probably an unexpected thing for 
you and for the whole world. You are the first to hear about this 
historic decision, which has been reached today after just 5 months of 
negotiations. We are, in fact, meeting a sharp, dramatic reduction in 
the total number for the two sides of the amount of nuclear warheads 
from 21,000 to 6,000 to 7,000 for the United States of America and 
Russia.
    Indeed, we have been able to cut, over those 5 months of 
negotiations, the total number of nuclear warheads to one-third, while 
it took 15 years under the START Treaty to make some reductions. This is 
an expression of the fundamental change in the political and economic 
relations between the United States of America and Russia. It is also an 
expression and proof of the personal trust and confidence that has been 
established between the Presidents of these countries, President Bush of 
the United States of America and the President of Russia.
    These things have been achieved without deception, without anybody 
wishing to gain unilateral advantages. This is a result of the trust 
entertained by the President of the democratic Russia towards America 
and by the President of the United States towards the new Russia. This 
is the result of a carefully measured balance of security. We were not 
going in for numbers, for just 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 pieces. Rather, we 
have established a bracket for each country to elect the number they 
figure that it will consider appropriate for its own defense and 
security.
    As I have told you, the total number will go down from 21,000 to 
6,000 for two sides. Under the first phase, the reductions for the two 
sides will be down to 3,800 to 4,250 bracket; including ICBM's, 1,250; 
and heavy missiles, 650; SLBM's, 2,250. Under the second phase, we shall 
go down to respectively 3,000 and 3,500, including total reduction and 
destruction of heavy missiles. Land-based MIRV's will be reduced as 
well. SLBM's will go down to 1,750.
    Each country will elect the figure that it will consider appropriate 
to ensure its defense and security. Thus, we are departing from the 
ominous parity where each country was exerting every effort to stay in 
line, which has led Russia, for instance, having half of its population 
living below the poverty line. We cannot afford it, and therefore, we 
must have minimum security level to deal with any possible eventuality 
which might arise anywhere in the world and threaten our security.
    But we know one thing: We shall not fight against each other. This 
is a solemn undertaking that we are taking today, and it will be 
reflected as a matter of partnership and friendship in the charter that 
we are going to sign. Our proposal is to cut the process of destruction 
from the proposed 13 years down to 9 years. So the things that I have 
been mentioning before will be materialized by the year 2000.
    I am happy to be involved here in this historic occasion, and I will 
also hope that I will be as happy when this thing is materialized, and 
President Bush and I will be celebrating together the implementation of 
that agreement in the year 2000. I thank you.
    I want to add that these figures have been agreed with and ratified 
by the Secretary for Defense, Mr. Cheney, and the Defense Minister, 
Pavel Grachev, of the Russian Federation. I thank you.
    President Bush. I would only add to that my gratitude to the 
Secretary of State; to

[[Page 946]]

Mr. Kozyrev, his counterpart; and also to General Scowcroft and others 
that have worked on this and accomplished all this in record time.
    We are going to have a press conference tomorrow and so maybe we'll 
just take one each here.
    Q. Mr. President, just a few days ago, President Yeltsin was 
complaining you were trying to take advantage of him. How do you----
    President Bush. I can't hear, there's too many questions.
    Q. Vietnam POW's----
    President Bush. Right here. I'm going to have a little statement on 
that in just a minute.
    Q. Would you explain to people who might not understand why friends 
who trust each other and do not plan to attack would still need 7,000 
nuclear warheads?
    President Bush. What I am saying we've moved dramatically down from 
13,000. This will be seen as an enormous move forward towards the 
relaxation of tension and towards the friendship that we feel for each 
other; the elimination of the most destabilizing of weapons is 
extraordinarily positive. The fact that each country, at this juncture 
in history, retains some nuclear weapons speaks for itself. Who knows 
what lies out there ahead? But certainly I agree with what President 
Yeltsin said, that there is no animosity. The cold war days are over. He 
came here in a spirit of forward movement on these arms control 
agreements, and that speaks for itself.
    President Yeltsin. I would like to amplify on that. I would say that 
in response to your question, that the technical and financial resources 
that are required in order to destroy, dismantle, and reduce the total 
number of warheads and missiles from 21,000 to 6,000, 7,000 is enormous. 
This is the only thing that conditions this figure.

POW-MIA's

    President Bush. With your permission, Mr. President, I would like to 
take the last question which relates to the POW-MIA discussions that we 
have had.
    President Yeltsin and I discussed this morning that issue that is of 
the highest priority for our administration and, I know, for every 
American: the fate of American POW's and MIA's from World War II, Korea, 
the cold war period, and Vietnam.
    President Yeltsin informed me for the first time that Russia may 
have information about the fate of some of our servicemen from Vietnam. 
He said the Russian Government is pursuing this information vigorously, 
just as we speak. And with us today are President Yeltsin's adviser, 
Dmitri Volkogonov over here, Dmitri, and our able former Ambassador to 
the U.S.S.R., Ambassador Malcolm Toon. Now, they are the cochairs of the 
joint U.S.-Russian Commission on POW-MIA's. They've met during the last 
few months along with the Members of the United States Congress who are 
also part of this bipartisan U.S. delegation to unearth information on 
American POW's and MIA's from 1945 on, and Russian POW's and MIA's from 
the Afghan war.
    President Yeltsin and I have instructed both of these gentlemen to 
begin immediately a joint U.S.-Russian pursuit of the latest information 
that was given to me today. I have asked Ambassador Toon to return 
immediately to Moscow to work on this issue. And I want to assure all 
Americans and particularly those families of the American POW's and 
MIA's that we will spare no effort in working with our Russian 
colleagues to investigate all information in the Russian archives 
concerning our servicemen. While we do not have any specific information 
to make public today, I pledge to keep the American people informed of 
developments on this issue and as we find out more about these latest 
leads.
    Let me just point out that the forthcoming comments by President 
Yeltsin is just one more sign of this improved new relationship between 
Russia and the United States of America. For him to go back and dig into 
these records without fear of embarrassment is an enormous consequence 
to the people of the United States of America. And I salute him for 
this. He has told me that he will go the last mile to find whatever it 
is exists about our possibility of American POW's and MIA's and to clear 
this record once and for all. And in so many other fields this 
demonstrates his leadership and 
the period of change that we are salut-

[[Page 947]]

ing and I saluted here today on the South Lawn of the White House.
    So we're very grateful to you, Mr. President.
    Q. Did he say that they're still alive?
    Q. ----Americans are alive, Mr. President? Do you think----
    President Yeltsin. I will only add a couple of words, Mr. President. 
Our commission, headed and chaired by Dmitri Volkogonov, has been 
meeting for several months now, and it has already met with some 
success. I can promise that the joint commission, which will be 
established following this press conference, will be working hard and 
will report to the American public all the information that will be 
found in the archives that we are going to open for it, including the 
archives in the KGB, in the Central Committee of the Communist Party 
regarding the fate of American POW's and MIA's.
    Q. Mr. Bush, do you agree it's possible some of those Americans may 
still be alive?
    President Bush. I would simply say that I have no evidence of that, 
but the cooperation that has been extended and again is being extended 
by the President of Russia will guarantee to the American people that if 
anyone's alive, that person, those people would be found. Equally as 
important to the loved ones is the accounting for any possible MIA. And 
so we have no evidence of anyone being alive, but I would simply say 
again that this is the best way to get to the bottom of it. This new 
approach by the President of Russia to go into these archives and to try 
to find missing records will be the best assurance that I can give the 
American people that the truth will be revealed finally.
    Q. It there a danger of raising false hopes here, Mr. President?
    President Bush. You've got to be careful of that, yes.

                    Note: President Bush spoke at 2:47 p.m. in the Rose 
                        Garden at the White House. President Yeltsin 
                        spoke in Russian, and his remarks were 
                        translated by an interpreter.