Mr Major’s Doorstep Interview in Naples (I) – 9 July 1994

July 9, 1994 admin 1994, Boris Yeltsin, Bosnia, Naples G7 Summit, Russia

Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep interview in Naples, after meeting President Yeltsin, on Saturday 9th July 1994.

QUESTION:

[Inaudible]

PRIME MINISTER:

I am delighted he is here. We discussed the prospect of him attending when I was in Moscow earlier this year and I am delighted he is here. He has a very substantial contribution to make.

QUESTION:

Did you discuss the death of the North Korean President at all?

PRIME MINISTER:

No. It is very probable we will do that this evening but we didn’t discuss it in our brief discussion just now.

QUESTION:

Are there any other things which you got out of the meeting which you found pleasing and welcoming?

PRIME MINISTER:

We discussed a number of bilateral matters. We discussed the Queen’s forthcoming trip to Russia when she will be going to Moscow and St. Petersburg and perhaps other places. President Yeltsin I hope is coming to the United Kingdom. And then we spent a substantial amount of time on Bosnia.

QUESTION:

What did you discuss on Bosnia?

PRIME MINISTER:

We discussed the prospects of the Contact Group’s report being accepted by both sides and how to play our part in encouraging them to accept it. The sooner we can turn a not terribly satisfactory ceasefire into a permanent ceasefire and peace settlement the better and those were the matters we were talking about.

QUESTION:

Did you discuss Chernobyl?

PRIME MINISTER:

We haven’t done so yet. We will be discussing that with him this evening.

QUESTION:

Will it be a sticky point?

PRIME MINISTER:

I don’t think so, no certainly not.