[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 2 (Monday, January 17, 1994)]
[Pages 49-50]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Welcoming Ceremony in Moscow, Russia

January 13, 1994

    President Yeltsin. Mr. President of the United States of America, it 
gives me great pleasure to welcome you as a most honored guest of the 
Russian Federation. You begin this day's official business in the famous 
and legendary Georgian Room of the Grand Kremlin Palace, which has names 
of some of Russia's best sons inscribed on its walls. And I believe that 
this is a good omen for the coming discussions that we're going to have.
    I very well remember the first meeting that we had in Vancouver 
where we laid the foundations for U.S.-Russia partnership and also for 
our personal rapport and friendship. And I believe that we have every 
reason to think that the coming discussions will be even more profound, 
more practical, and more sweeping in nature.
    I also believe that you will take back from your visit to Russia a 
very good memory. And I'm sure that as you meet people here, they will 
also remember you very well and your stay here. So, Mr. President, 
welcome to Russia. Welcome to Moscow.
    President Clinton. Thank you. Well, Mr. President, I am delighted to 
see you again and deeply honored to be in this magnificent hall which is 
a great testimony to the rich history, the leadership, and the greatness 
of your nation, the greatness that has been demonstrated again by the 
remarkable changes over which you have presided in the last 2 years.
    I have just come from a set of historic meetings that we'll have a 
chance to talk about, meetings which make it clear that Russia and the 
United States must work together to build a new future for Europe on 
which a new future for our entire world depends.
    I believe that together we can work to lead a new security for 
Europe based on democratic values, free economies, the respect for 
nations for one another. We will be discussing the specific things we 
can do to keep the economic reform going in Russia and to help the 
Russian people to realize the benefits of the courageous changes that 
have been going on; to use the Partnership For Peace to develop mutual 
security all across Europe and for the first time in all of history to 
have a Europe that is not divided by an artificial line between peoples; 
and to work toward the historic agreement that you and I will sign with 
President Kravchuk on Friday to make the world a safer place with fewer 
nuclear weapons.
    These are the ways in which, under your leadership, your nation is 
defining its greatness. And I am very pleased to be here to work on 
these things with you.

[[Page 50]]

Note: The President spoke at 9:16 a.m. in St. George's Hall in the 
Kremlin. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
these remarks.