    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [March 21, 1997]
    [Pages 330-331]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters on Greeting President Boris Yeltsin of Russia
    and President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland in Helsinki
    March 21, 1997

    Helsinki Summit

        Q. Mr. President, do you expect to be able to find a way to agree to
    disagree with President Yeltsin on NATO expansion?
        President Clinton. I think we'll have a good meeting. And we'll have
    a press conference this afternoon to answer your questions.
        Q. Do you expect any surprises?
        President Yeltsin. During the discussions there may be some
    surprises, but I'm confident that we'll be able to find a way out, a
    solution out of these surprises. We have a good will to try to
    accommodate each other and remove all the disagreements that we still
    have today. And we grow convinced that our most ardent desire--and then
    we know that skeptics in the past have always proved that wrong, saying
    that it's not possible to reach agreement on an issue; in the final
    analysis we did come to agreement on most thorny issues. And the two
    Presidents, heads of the two great powers, are duty bound to act in this
    way. And I think Bill would agree with me that each of us will be
    prepared to cover his own part of the way.

    Note: The exchange began at 9:38 a.m. at Mantyniemi, the residence of
    President Ahtisaari. President Yeltsin spoke in Russian, and his remarks
    were translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of this exchange.

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