[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[June 17, 1992]
[Pages 953-961]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With President Boris Yeltsin of Russia

June 17, 1992
    President Bush. Well, Mr. President and distinguished members of the 
Russian delegation and distinguished guests, all. This has been an 
historic summit meeting. It brings us to the threshold of a new world, a 
world of hope and opportunity. The collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the 
emergence of a democratic Russia provides us with the greatest 
opportunity in our lifetime to win the permanent democratic peace that 
has eluded us through two world wars and the long cold war that 
followed.
    President Yeltsin, as a result of this first-ever U.S.-Russia summit 
we've indeed formed a truly new relationship, one of peace, friendship, 
trust, and growing partnership. I am confident that this new 
relationship and our historic agreements at this summit will lead to a 
safer, more stable, and peaceful world into the next century.
    Let me just say to the American people: Our support for Russia is 
unshakable because it is in our interest. Success for Russian democracy 
will enhance the security of every American. Think for just a minute 
about what that means, not for Presidents, nor for heads of state or 
historians, but for parents and their children. It means a future free 
from fear. And that is why I call upon the Congress to act quickly on 
the ``FREEDOM Support Act,'' so that the American support reaches Russia 
when it is needed most, right now.
    During the past 2 days the United States and Russia have defined a 
new military and security relationship. It is a new era. President 
Yeltsin and I have just signed a statement that will lead to the 
greatest arms reductions of the nuclear age, reductions far deeper than 
we could have hoped for even 6 months ago.
    At this summit we've also opened a new chapter in our economic 
relationship. The economic agreements that we have signed today will 
pave the way for trade and investment in Russia, as will most-favored-
nation status which takes effect today. We hope very much that Russia 
and the International Monetary Fund can reach a standby agreement soon 
in order to unlock the G-7's economic support package.
    And finally, President Yeltsin and I signed the Washington Charter, 
which states formally our mutual commitment to a peaceful future 
together as democratic partners. This document, along with the many 
agreements we signed from open lands to Peace Corps, will help to put 
behind us for good the sad and too often tragic legacy of the cold war.

[[Page 954]]

    President Yeltsin's commitment to me to uncover all facts pertaining 
to American POW's and MIA's is yet another symbol of our changed 
relationship. His commitment to also investigate the KAL 007 tragedy in 
which 61 Americans lost their lives nearly 9 years ago speaks to our 
mutual willingness to face some of the unpleasant truths of the past 
together.
    During these 2 days we embarked on a new partnership. It is now 
within our power to alter forever our relationship so that it becomes 
the greatest force for peace, a democratic peace, that the world has 
ever known.
    Let that be our vision for the future. And today, Mr. President, I 
pledge to you to make my commitment to make that vision I've outlined a 
reality.
    Once again, thank you, sir.
    President Yeltsin. Honorable Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. 
The time has come when we can now take stock of the short but fruitful 
period in our relationship when new principles of the cooperation 
between the United States and Russia have been made.
    I value this as a very important period. We now have a basis for 
interaction. We now have something that we can fill with substantive 
content. I doubt if today's documents could have been signed if we had 
not been looking for points of contact and mutual interest that we have 
been looking for, for years.
    But it was very important, also, to cast away negative traditions, 
the profound disgust to each other which was masked by charming manners 
and politeness. We have now begun in a very good tempo, and the 
documents that we have signed today are not designed to define what has 
already been established in context but to find new ways to go forward. 
And the treaties and agreements that we have signed today do not just 
pertain to the two countries of ours. They are a sketch for a future 
world. They are characteristic of the kind of features that we want to 
see in this world. This world is becoming more attractive, more humane, 
kinder than we see today.
    We are not trying to think of some global problems of restructuring 
the world. We do not want to force or coerce all the nations to join in 
this. We are looking for solving mutual problems based on mutual trust, 
including the personal trust between the two Presidents of Russia and 
the United States. We feel that it is on this basis primarily that we 
can get the best results.
    Among the Russian-American relations, there are two things that are 
most important to my mind: strategic arms limitations and economic 
cooperation. The state of strategic arms has now been decided. Once the 
cold war was over, they turned out to be obsolete and unnecessary to 
mankind. And it is now simply a matter of calculating the best way and 
the best time schedule for destroying them and getting rid of them. 
Another important point is to defend the world from an accidental use of 
such arms in the world, and we have laid the basis for that, also.
    Another very important area in our relationship is designing a good 
basis for fruitful economic cooperation and establishing all kinds of 
contacts in this economic sphere. We have concluded very important 
agreements that have removed obstacles in this way and to make it more 
attractive for businessmen to join in this effort, and this is very 
important for our country at this time. After 70 years of travesty as 
far as personal property was concerned, now private property is becoming 
ever more important and will become even more so in times to come.
    In conclusion, I would like to draw your attention to the following. 
Less than anything else do we need to delude ourselves by what we have 
accomplished. We would like to strive to the maximum that we would like 
to see happen. And if we look at our dialog in this light, then there is 
only one conclusion. We have to intensely work and forge ahead, both in 
the United States and in Russia. For those who come after us, we have to 
leave a good heritage, and this is important for the peoples of both of 
our countries. I thank you, Mr. President, for creating wonderful 
conditions for our work, and I congratulate you for the wonderful result 
of this work.
    President Bush. We'll take a few questions. Helen [Helen Thomas, 
United Press International].

[[Page 955]]

POW-MIA's

    Q. President Yeltsin, in terms of the POW's and the MIA's, do you 
think that Mikhail Gorbachev or any of his predecessors, even going back 
to Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, knew about the possibility that 
Americans were being held? And why are you going to see Governor 
Clinton? Are you trying to touch all bases before November?
    President Yeltsin. Well, that's just the point; they did know. 
That's the very point, that they kept it a secret. The point is that 
that era, when we kept the truth from each other, has come to an end, 
and we will now tell the truth to each other, person to person, and will 
never do a double-play.

Meeting With Governor Clinton

    Q. How about the Governor Clinton--Clinton?
    President Yeltsin. Tomorrow morning I'm going to see Governor 
Clinton, and we will meet. And as for the future, Russia will respect 
the wishes of the American people.

Korean Airliner Attack and POW-MIA's

    Q. My name is Sonya, and I'm from the newspaper Izvestia. And Mr. 
Yeltsin, you have said that you would like to make public the facts 
connected with the Korean airliner. Our newspaper has already been doing 
this investigation for a number of years, and we have already found out 
a lot of things. Now we would like to know just exactly who was 
responsible for what happened, and what do you think we can expect?
    Q. Mr. President, you referred--your presentation of your remarks to 
the KAL 007 shootdown, and you referred to the place by President 
Yeltsin that some facts would be revealed. And I wondered to which 
extent you think the American administration would be helpful in that 
regard as well. Is there anything you could say to us about the tragedy?
    President Yeltsin. I will answer. You know that on the 20th of 
August at about 1800 hours of last year when it was clear that the coup 
leaders had lost, we seized the archives of the KGB and the former 
Central Committee of the Communist Party. We placed armed guards around 
the buildings. But several hours before that, one car from each place 
had time to remove some of the archives from those two buildings and 
destroy them. We do not know what was in those archives.
    Now we are trying to check all of those archives, do a comprehensive 
check of all of them, and we stumbled upon one document which we feel 
might be the beginning of a chain that might help us to unravel the 
entire tragedy with the Korean Boeing. It was a memorandum from KGB to 
the Central Committee of the Communist Party where it says that such a 
tragedy had taken place, and so on and so forth and that there are 
documents which would clarify the entire picture. The next line then 
says these documents are so well concealed that it is doubtful that our 
children will be able to find them, those who come after us will be able 
to find them. So this is our task. So then we began to check all the 
archives of the KGB, and this is our challenge; we're trying to find 
those documents that were referred to. I still cherish the hope that 
we'll be able to find those documents, and if we do so we will 
immediately make them public. I will be the first to call President Bush 
personally and tell him about it. And I will call you, too. [Laughter]
    President Bush. The gentleman asked me to follow on, and I would 
simply say, one, we have great respect for this approach. It will be 
most reassuring to the American people, not only as it relates to the 
airline, but also to the question that President Yeltsin handled so well 
before the Congress, the question of the POW's and MIA's. So I can't add 
anything to that except to say that we will pledge to him our full 
cooperation in terms of any inquiry or what we might have that they 
don't know at this time. It is essential for the families that we get to 
the bottom of this, and it's essential to strengthening further this 
very strong relationship. So that's all I could add.
    Yes, Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].

Arms Agreements

    Q. Mr. President, a two-part question: President Yeltsin today 
pledged to deactivate the heavy SS-18 missiles that he said are targeted 
on the United States. Is there a

[[Page 956]]

reciprocal move that the United States will make? And the second 
question is, you mentioned that these arms reductions are going to be 
the deepest of the nuclear age. Does this mean that the peace dividend 
will be even bigger than what was expected, and that will be more money 
for American cities and domestic problems?
    President Bush. Well, let me say that we will live up to the 
agreement we entered into. I'm not prepared to say what we will do in 
regards to the question of defusing or targeting, but we will live up to 
the letter of the agreement that we have discussed.
    What was the second part?

Federal Budget

    Q. It was peace dividend. Will the peace dividend be bigger?
    President Bush. Well, a dividend is declared when you make a profit, 
and our Government is operating at an enormous, enormous deficit. And 
therefore, those who say take the money from this agreement and spend it 
on some Federal project have to understand that the American people want 
to get something done about this deficit and want to get something done 
so that we can get this economy growing. So I would not pledge that any 
savings that might accrue to us because of this far-reaching agreement 
would go to some Federal spending project.
    On the other hand, I'm determined to help the cities. We've got some 
good proposals up there and for the Congress, and I believe they're 
working on them, and I hope that they'll pass them.
    We're alternating between the visiting journalists and those 
familiar faces here at home.

Russia-U.S. Agreements

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Yeltsin, the reaction to your 
statement in Congress was overwhelming. What do you think the reaction 
of the Russian Parliament would be to the documents and the agreements 
that have been signed here today?
    President Yeltsin. Yes, I believe that the Russian Parliament 
reflects, or should reflect, the opinion of the Russian people. The 
documents, the charters, the treaties that have been signed are 
promising. It is a promising step for improving the life of Russia, for 
progress in realizing reforms. Not to support them would be a crime 
towards one's own people. And I am certain that the Supreme Soviet will 
support what we signed.

POW-MIA's

    Q. President Yeltsin, there is still some confusion here in 
Washington over raising the issue of POW's and MIA's. Is there actual 
information that you have unearthed in these archives? It's a very 
sensitive issue in the United States, and people are asking whether 
there's actual evidence that there is some kind of chain or trail, as 
you termed it with the Korean incident, that gets people's hopes up that 
some of this information will come home.
    President Yeltsin. I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understood the 
question. Are you talking about the Korean airliner or the POW's?
    What we have on the POW's, I have written everything to and given it 
to the Senate, what we know today. But we have made a step forward even 
yesterday. President Bush has made the decision to create his own part 
of a commission, and it will be a joint commission then, and it will 
have cochairmen. On our part it will be General Volkogonov. He is the 
historian, and he is a very honest man. He has conducted this work for 
many years. From the American side the cochairman will be the former 
Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Mr. Toon. I think that when they join 
their efforts I think they will be able to move forward a lot faster in 
order to really clarify the entire picture.

Global Defense System

    Q. I am from the newspaper the Red Star. As we understood, you want 
to create a global defense system. What are the prospects or how do you 
intend to move forward with this system?
    President Bush. Well, we've signed a broad, I would say, beginning 
agreement on that. I think President Yeltsin has touched on that in his 
public speeches, but I'd be glad to implement it. We want to guard 
against nuclear proliferation, reckless use of weapons of mass 
destruction. For a long

[[Page 957]]

time we've been doing research in this area, and it seems to us that 
this is a good area for cooperation with Russia. And so we've just begun 
on this from this agreement that we've entered into here today.
    But it will develop, and there's good science, good technology on 
both sides. And we're determined to work together on this global defense 
area.
    Yes, John [John Cochran, NBC News].

POW-MIA's and Assistance for Russia

    Q. Sir, a question to both of you regarding this question of 
American prisoners. We don't understand, sir, why former Soviet leaders 
would have wanted to keep these American prisoners quiet. In the case of 
Francis Gary Powers, Khrushchev used that as political propaganda to 
undermine President Eisenhower. Why would these prisoners have been kept 
alive and in camps without any publicity? Was it just meanness, cruelty? 
They just wanted to crush them, find out what they could? Do your 
archives reveal anything about that?
    My question to you, sir, would be: Do you think that what Mr. 
Yeltsin had to say about the POW-MIA issue defused that issue completely 
today? What are your people telling you about the prospect of Russian 
aid now in Congress?
    President Yeltsin. You have had a chance to ask this question of the 
former President of the former Soviet Union, why he kept this a secret. 
I'm not responsible for him. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Good answer.
    I think the way President Yeltsin handled that question was 
extraordinarily sensitive in the Congress today, was extraordinarily 
sensitive to American public opinion and to the anguish and grief of the 
families.
    I would refer you to the various chairmen that are here with us 
today, representatives of both parties. But in my view he defused, by 
being so forthright and so forthcoming, the criticism that you say did 
exist. I think I know of one very honorable Senator who has probably as 
much at stake in this broad subject as any, Senator McCain, who was a 
prisoner himself in Vietnam for a long, long time. He was satisfied and 
pleased with the statement by President Yeltsin. So it is my hope that 
that matter has been disposed of. We will go forward working 
cooperatively with Russia. I hope it's been disposed of.
    I believe that the speech that he gave today, not just in this 
category but in all categories, helped assure the passage of the 
``FREEDOM Support Act.'' It is essential that we move forward and pass 
that. I know there's a lot of questions that will be asked up there, but 
it is in our interest. I know it's in the interest of both Russia and 
the United States, and we must not miss this opportunity. I'll say once 
again, we've spent literally trillions of dollars, trillions of dollars 
for defense. Here's an opportunity to take out an insurance policy for 
peace and democracy and to back a courageous leader and a courageous 
people. So I think it will pass. And I think his speech today, that I 
watched keenly, will help assure that passage. He was very well-received 
in the Congress, and maybe after this is over you can discuss this with 
some of the leaders of the Congress who are here.

Russia-U.S. Agreements

    Q. You were talking about the situation in which many Russians find 
themselves. What do you think the significance of this visit will be for 
the common people of Russia? What can you say about that?
    President Yeltsin. I think that the negotiations themselves and the 
documents, and I might say that we will have signed about 39 documents, 
all in all. We have signed seven with President Bush and then the 
premiers, the deputy premiers, the deputy secretaries, the secretaries 
of state or foreign ministers are signing them, but each of these 
documents is profitable for Russians, for the Russian people.
    Nowhere have we compromised our economic interests, our freedom, or 
the interests of the Russian people. We always kept in mind the 
interests of the people of Russia. I'm very grateful, by the way, to 
President Bush that he always took a position that if we do not take 
measures now to support Russia that this will not be a collapse of 
Russia only; it will also mean the collapse for the United States also, 
because it will mean new trillions of dollars for the arms race. And 
this is what we have to understand. This is inadmissible and imper-

[[Page 958]]

missible. So each document is of direct import and direct benefit to 
Russian citizens.

Assistance for Russia

    Q. Mr. President, how serious do you think is the need for economic 
aid to Russia, and how soon do you think the United States will be able 
to make a contribution?
    President Bush. I would simply say we think it's serious. We think 
that the changes that Russia has embarked on are absolutely essential. I 
know there are still some problems that remain with the IMF, but we had 
very frank discussions about that. We are prepared to help move this 
package forward as swiftly as possible. I think the President put it 
best when he talked about the urgency of this so I will let him add onto 
it. But we are viewing this as priority. We are viewing this as of prior 
consideration. We have many domestic issues here, and we're going to 
keep pushing forward on them, economic growth, help for the cities. We 
can do all of those and pass this ``FREEDOM Support Act.''
    So we're going to keep pushing forward on the domestic front, but 
this is priority internationally. We are going to be prepared to be 
weighing in and talking in great depth about this when I go to the G-7 
summit in Munich.
    Q. This goes with it, Mr. President. What are the alternatives if 
Congress doesn't pass the aid to Russia?
    President Bush.  Well, I think they're going to pass it, and it's 
too hypothetical.
    Do you want to comment on the urgency? No? Okay.
    President Yeltsin. I think that, of course, these $24 billion are 
important, the $24 billion that would have come to us as credits from 
the IMF. It is an important thing for any civilized country, especially 
for Russia at this time, during this very difficult period of reforms. 
But these $24 billion will not save Russia; they will not even 
significantly help us. Perhaps they will help us to stabilize the ruble, 
they will help us to make the ruble convertible in July, once this 
question is decided.
    But the most important thing is that once the IMF decides this 
issue, this will open the door for a powerful stream, influx of private 
capital. Those will not be credits. Those will be direct investments 
from private companies. We have talked to business people in the United 
States together with President Bush and the business people here 
understand that very well. And the same situation exists in other 
countries, and that will be a matter of hundreds of billions of dollars. 
And that will be very important aid. It will be direct aid. It will be 
civilized aid. It will support our private sector, which is what we 
want.

Russia-U.S. Relations

    Q. Russian Television, First Channel. This is a question to both 
Presidents. You have really had good results from this meeting. What is 
it that you have failed to accomplish or have not had time to 
accomplish? What do you think is your next point on the agenda? Should 
be for the next summit, perhaps?
    President Yeltsin. You know, in addition to those issues which are 
reflected in the documents that have been signed, we discussed dozens 
and dozens of other issues which are not reflected in the documents, 
dozens of them. For example, there was a wonderful pleasure trip on a 
boat on the river which lasted an hour and 15 minutes. And even during 
that trip we worked, and we discussed a lot of issues that we will 
continue to talk about and will raise again at the next meeting. And I 
hope very much that the President of the United States will accept my 
invitation and will come and visit on an official visit to Moscow at the 
end of this year. And I am convinced that a very serious package of 
documents will be prepared by the time he comes for this visit.
    President Bush.  A summit of this nature is broken down into two 
general categories: one, agreements, where you sit down and you hammer 
out agreements. Many of them are precooked. The Arms Control Agreement 
was enhanced and was finalized because President Yeltsin came here with 
some new ideas and he and his Foreign Minister and Jim Baker and others 
here worked very hard on getting it finalized. So that's part of it; 
it's the agreements.

[[Page 959]]

    But I find that a lot of the benefit of a meeting of this nature is 
the kind of discussion that we had, not just on that boat where we 
talked for an hour about worldwide problems but the discussions that we 
had upstairs when I had some private time with the President, private 
time in the Oval Office with him, the Secretary, and Brent Scowcroft.
    It is very important that Russia and the United States not pass in 
the dark; that we understand. He understands how we look at the Balkans, 
for example, and I understand how he does, or the Middle East or South 
America or Japan. It is very important that two very important countries 
like this discuss in detail without trying to hammer out agreements the 
world situation, and that's exactly what we did. I have a far better 
understanding of the problem he faces at home and perhaps he has a 
better understanding of the problems that we face here in this country.

POW-MIA's

    Q. Question for both Presidents, President Yeltsin first. I'd like 
to follow up on a question my colleague asked a few moments ago because 
of the sensitivity of the POW issues.
    A few minutes ago you described to one of the Russian journalists a 
document that you'd found relating to the Korean airline shootdown. Can 
you describe to us any documents or details that you have found about 
the prisoner of war issue so that Americans might understand why you 
believe that prisoners might have been taken to Russia and why you 
believe there might be still some alive?
    And President Bush, can you tell us if there are any documents you 
have found relating to this in the time since you have learned of this 
situation?
    President Bush. I'll answer it--no--and then let him take the first 
part. There are none that have been brought to my attention.
    President Yeltsin. What we know today and what I have informed the 
Senate about, we are prepared to submit all the documents on that score. 
As to what we find later, as we find it we will submit those documents. 
I assure you that there will be no secrets; as we find them we will let 
them be known. It will be a joint commission, and they will be working 
together in the archives.
    Q. Can you tell us, sir, what you have found already?
    President Yeltsin. The most important thing is that we know the 
numerical picture. We know how many people there were on the territory, 
how many were left, what camps the POW's were held in, the citizens of 
the United States; which war they were from, whether it was World War II 
or the Korean war or any other incident. So that part of the picture is 
clear. We know who died, where they are buried. We know that, also.
    What we still don't know, we don't know a certain number of people 
who really we can't find where they belong, and we don't know where they 
are, and we have simply no information about them. This is why we say 
that maybe some of them are still alive and are still in Russia. This is 
why we say we would like to find further documents on those people.
    President Bush. May I say we are going to take two more questions, 
one from each side. But let me add something to this. This is not a one-
sided question. We aren't holding anybody. I know of nobody ever having 
held people. But there's a lot of heartbreak in Russia. There's a lot of 
families that wonder what happened to their loved ones in Afghanistan. 
While we were having these frank talks, I told President Yeltsin we 
would do absolutely everything we can. We lack a lot of purchase in some 
of these areas, but we will do absolutely everything we can to cooperate 
with him to see that those young men, these Russians who are held, 
allegedly held in Afghanistan are returned.
    So the heartbreak is on both sides. The agony is on both sides, 
different circumstances. But I just wanted you to know that we have 
pledged, and I want the people in Russia to know, that we have pledged 
to work cooperatively with President Yeltsin to try to get some 
information that might alleviate the suffering of families in Russia.

[[Page 960]]

Assistance for Russia

    Q. I have a question for President Bush. Could you perhaps answer 
this somewhat delicate question? You talked about the preparedness of 
America to provide aid, but that there are difficulties. Could you tell 
us something about the possibilities that have arisen for helping Russia 
as a result of signing the kind of documents that you have signed? What 
is possible, and what makes it psychologically difficult? What should be 
changed in Russia to make it easier? What would be conducive to our 
being able to help?
    President Bush. Change in Russia to make it easier would be going 
forward as briskly as possible with the reforms. That opens up not only 
cooperative support from the United States, but from the G-7 and other 
countries who want to help.
    I think--just help me once again with the first part of that. I lost 
my train of thought.
    Q. In order to formulate your answer----
    President Bush. Okay, no, but what we can do--the first part of your 
question comes back to me--what we can do the most is to pass the 
``FREEDOM Support Act.'' Now, you say, what are the problems with that. 
Some of the big package relates to the reforms and the need to get it 
through the IMF. Very candidly, so the people of Russia will understand 
that, there is some sentiment here that we should concentrate all our 
efforts in terms of spending domestically.
    It is my view--I don't think that's the will of the Congress, 
however. I believe the Congress will support the ``FREEDOM Support 
Act.'' We are in an election year here. The people of Russia have to 
understand it's a little strange out there, and things work differently 
in an election year. But the case for this ``FREEDOM Support Act'' is so 
overriding that I am confident that we can lay the politics aside and 
get this passed. I don't know if the interpreter got this, but I think 
that President Yeltsin's speech today, and I notice the Senators all had 
to go vote, but I think that they would tell you that that speech today 
was so well-received that that will enhance passage of the ``FREEDOM 
Support Act.''
    That is the answer to your question. What can the United States do? 
It can pass this. It can work with the international financial 
institutions to be sure to see if we can help eliminate some of the 
problems and work cooperatively with the G-7, who I'm convinced will 
want to help Russia. It's that kind of an approach.
    We've got one more to go.
    Q. I ask about what should be changed in Russia in order to make aid 
easier?
    President Bush. Well, I just think accommodation as much as 
possible--and you've got Mr. Gaydar trying to very much do that, along 
with this President--to accommodate the requirements of the 
international financial institutions. We've made a commitment, here. 
We've made a commitment, and we're going to go forward with it.
    The whole package needs to be passed by having these changes that 
the President's already started, go forward. There are certain 
requirements, there are some--I leave that to the financial experts that 
are here from Russia, but I can't say anything about the details except 
to say that what Russia can do is to try to iron out the requirements 
that lie ahead. I know that President Yeltsin's determined to do that, 
and I'm confident, with an able man like the Vice Premier here, if it 
can be done, he'll help get it done. So that's the only answer.
    President Yeltsin. Just a moment, I also would like to give my 
evaluation, since I am a participant in these events. And on my part it 
is 9--in other words, 9 out of 10 is the probability of help of what we 
have decided upon. That's how I would evaluate it.
    President Bush. I think so, too. Last question. Last question.

Arms Agreements

    Q. A question for both Presidents. President Yeltsin said that we 
don't want to force any other nations to join you. But now that you are 
so far down the road of disarmament, should some of the allies of the 
United States cut deeply their own nuclear weapons?
    President Yeltsin. The thing is that when I was on an official visit 
in France or a working visit in the United Kingdom and

[[Page 961]]

when we discussed this issue in detail with the leaders of those 
countries, I personally came to the conclusion that, actually, we didn't 
really need to talk about these issues; it wasn't really necessary 
because the quantities are totally incommensurate.
    Can you imagine 21,000 warheads, strategic warheads, that our two 
countries have in their possession and then take 100 that some other 
country has, is it really worth talking about? Is it worth arguing 
about? Especially once we began discussing it, they themselves come to 
the conclusion that the atmosphere in the world, once it changes, it 
will itself lead them to lower the level of the strategic armaments. 
Their own peoples will demand it. In France they have 5 submarines and 
we have hundreds; so how can we compare them?
    President Bush. Let me just reiterate the policy of the United 
States. We do not negotiate somebody else's armaments; we talk about the 
United States. So I'm not going to go into that at all. Our policy is 
well-known, and I think that the President put this in very proper 
perspective here. We're dealing with something enormous in working down 
our own arsenals. We've got our plate pretty full there. But it is not 
for the President of the United States to start talking about the French 
or British deterrent, and that's not my role.
    Thank you all very much. We're out of here.

                    Note: The President's 132d news conference began at 
                        4:47 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. 
                        During the news conference, the following 
                        persons were referred to: Gen. Dmitri 
                        Volkogonov, senior adviser to President Yeltsin, 
                        and Yegor Gaydar, First Deputy Prime Minister of 
                        Russia. President Yeltsin spoke in Russian, and 
                        his remarks were translated by an interpreter. 
                        The news conference followed a ceremony in which 
                        President Bush and President Yeltsin signed the 
                        Washington Charter for American-Russian 
                        Partnership and Friendship; Joint United States-
                        Russian Statement on a Global Protection System; 
                        the Bilateral Investment Treaty; the Treaty for 
                        the Avoidance of Double Taxation; Joint 
                        Understanding on reductions in strategic 
                        offensive arms; Space Cooperation Agreement; and 
                        the Agreement on the Destruction and 
                        Safeguarding of Weapons and the Prevention of 
                        Weapons Proliferation.