[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 1995)]
[Pages 1081-1082]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With President Boris 
Yeltsin of Russia in Halifax

June 17, 1995

    Q. Mr. President, let me ask you a question. Are you now changing 
your mind as to the people against whom Mr. Yeltsin is waging a war when 
you learn what's going on in Budennovsk? That's Russian Television News 
question.
    President Yeltsin. In the first place, I would like to say that my 
friend, Bill, has never wavered in his opinion. He has always supported 
and is supporting Russia and President Yeltsin.
    I would like to say that the storming of the hospital is continuing, 
that we have liberated 200 hostages, and the operation is going on. I am 
in contact, in constant contact with our commanders who command our 
special forces who stormed the hospital, and I am in full control of the 
situation.
    Taking this example, you should judge for yourselves that Chechnya 
today is the center of world terrorism, of bribery and corruption and 
mafia. We couldn't act otherwise. We had to destroy those terrorists and 
bandits.
    Well, not all in the world understood this situation correctly and 
perhaps not all of the mass media understood correctly. But I am very 
glad that my friend, Bill, understood me correctly and, nonetheless, 
always defended his position no matter what happened.
    I just have to say that our state Dumas, as a matter of fact, today 
has made the decision to have the President go back, come back home and 
make a visit to Budennovsk. I think, therefore, that this is a bad 
mistake, a bad move on their part because now I, myself, become a 
hostage to these very same bandits by having to go back there.
    And moreover, I have to say that after my discussion yesterday--and 
I once again reiterated that today to our partners in the G-7 and told 
them what kind of people we're dealing with, what kind of horrible 
criminals with black bands on their foreheads--they now much better 
understand that this is really the only way that we can deal with these 
criminal elements. They really now understand much more.
    Dear journalists, Bill and I accumulated a whole host of very 
important issues--global issues, not some internal Russian disputes and 
issues or internal American problems. These are really serious, 
overwhelming global issues. And therefore, I say, we've got to go.
    Thank you, and goodbye.
    Q. President Clinton, do you agree with what he said about your 
position?
    President Clinton. Well, let me tell you what my position is. First 
of all, it is true that the United States has always said that Chechnya 
was a part of Russia and was ultimately a problem that had to be 
resolved by the people of your nation, consistent with your 
constitutional laws.
    It is also true that we believe that terrorism everywhere is wrong, 
that terrorism in the Middle East is wrong, that people blowing up our 
Federal building in Oklahoma City is wrong, and people taking over a 
hospital in your country and killing innocent civilians is wrong, and 
has to be resisted strong.
    But I also subscribe to the position taken by the G-7 that sooner or 
later--better sooner than later--the cycle of violence has to be broken. 
And ultimately, in any democracy, there has to be a political solution 
to people's differences. And so that is what we have urged.
    President Yeltsin and I have had several conversations about this. 
When I was in Moscow I said that I understood it was a terribly 
difficult situation for Russia but that the United States believed that, 
ultimately, in any democracy, all decisions were finally resolved in a 
political manner in a way that would permit the cycle of violence to be 
broken.
    So that is our position. It is still our position. And we hope that 
it will become more possible now. But nothing--nothing--can justify this 
outrageous act at your hospital and innocent people being killed. It's 
just wrong.
    I want to mention one other issue because it won't be in the 
headlines, but it's terribly important. When President Yeltsin and I 
were together in Moscow for the anniversary of the end of World War II, 
we talked about the problem of nuclear security. And I told him then I 
thought it was very important that we work closely together on the 
problem of

[[Page 1082]]

nuclear security, not just in Russia but in other countries where this 
is an issue, and on the problem of nuclear smuggling, because with so 
many terrorist groups around the world, we don't want small-scale 
nuclear weapons being added to their already impressive arsenals.
    So when he came to this meeting, President Yeltsin suggested that we 
have a summit next year in Moscow dealing with these issues and 
involving many, many countries that have this problem. And I think we 
all agree. We think it's a very constructive suggestion. And we believe 
that, together, by next year we can make some real progress in making 
the world more secure for this problem in reducing the likelihood of 
nuclear smuggling and, ultimately, the likelihood of these small-scale 
weapons being used to further the cause of terrorism.
    So that is one of the positive things that came out of this summit, 
from my point of view, along with the agreement we all made to work 
together more closely in fighting terrorism and the agreement we made to 
try to prevent further Mexican crisis and continued reform of the 
international financial institutions.
    So from my point of view, this has been a very successful meeting. I 
know that the problem in Chechnya is occupying everyone's attention. The 
gripping scene at the hospital must have a hold on the imagination of 
the Russian people, very much like the explosion in Oklahoma City had on 
our people. And we join the Russian people in condemning terrorism in 
the strongest possible terms.
    But we hope that in the end all the people of Russia, including the 
people in Chechnya, can be reconciled so that your democracy can 
flourish everywhere and the cycle of violence can be broken. And that is 
our prayer, and that is our policy.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The exchange began at 2:49 p.m. in the Cavalier Room at the 
Citadel Hotel. 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.