Category: Prime Minister (1990-1997)

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet situation, made in an interview held in London on Monday 26th August 1991.

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QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked what he thought of Mr Gorbachev’s resignation from the communist party].

PRIME MINISTER:

It is clearly a very dramatic event. We have seen over the last few years that the communist party has been declining in Eastern Europe and increasingly unpopular in the Soviet Union so what we have seen in the last few crucial hours is the demise of the communist party as a serious force in the Soviet Union. Now that is no loss I believe, we are well off without it, it will go and it will go unmourned.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked if that also meant the demise of Mr Gorbachev].

PRIME MINISTER:

No, I do not think you can say that we have seen that, Mr Gorbachev is still the constitutional President of the Soviet Union. What we do not know is what arrangements are going to be made between the Soviet Union and the republics in terms of the union treaty, clearly it will be a different union treaty from the one that would otherwise have been signed a few days ago but what is will be will be determined in the next few days.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked if Mr Gorbachev could retain power whilst not being head of the communist party].

PRIME MINISTER:

It is clearly going to be a different set of circumstances, that is absolutely right, but it is very striking is it not that the first thing that Yeltsin said was that Gorbachev was the legal President of the Soviet Union and that he ought to be freed. Now how that matter will develop in the next few days no-one yet knows and we must just wait and see.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked if President Gorbachev could remain credible].

PRIME MINISTER:

He seemed to have maintained his credibility over recent years with some considerable skill and nobody should under-estimate what he has actually achieved in the last 6 or 7 years, it has been very remarkable, but events are changing and Mr Gorbachev has recognised that with his remarks about the communist party yesterday.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet coup, made in an interview held in London on Thursday 22nd August 1991.

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QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked what needed to be done now in the Soviet Union].

PRIME MINISTER:

The first thing that we need to determine in the Soviet Union is how these turbulent events of the last few days will settle down, we then want to see what is going to happen with the reform programme. One thing has changed, and it may be very dramatic, many of the people who opposed the reforms that President Gorbachev has in mind were those people who actually led the coup, they are no longer in position, that may mean a totally different atmosphere for the reforms, it may be possible to accelerate them, it may be possible to reach agreement on matters that agreement was impossible on before. Now if that happened circumstances have changed significantly.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked if further aid would now be given to the Soviet Union].

PRIME MINISTER:

It relates to the point I just made a moment or so ago, we will have to see how the circumstances have changed. I do not think you can precipitately make those decisions but circumstances have changed and in the light of those changed circumstances we will want to consider what we can do. But it is a mistake I think to assume that we were not helping before, we were, and helping dramatically. What Mr Gorbachev wanted Mr Gorbachev was getting: associate status with the IMF, the special meeting with the G7 industrial nations, wholly unprecedented events, events that would have been quite impossible even two years ago. And so a great deal of progress was being made, the reform programme may now have been given a bigger push, if it is who knows what is then possible.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked if the relationship between President Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin would now change].

PRIME MINISTER:

Nobody can be clear about that. But I do not see what it is necessarily the case as some are presupposing that it will be a confrontational relationship, they both have an interest in working together to carry reform forward in the Soviet Union. And it was very striking, was it not, that the first thing that President Yeltsin said was that Mr Gorbachev should be freed because he was the legal President of the Soviet Union, they had been working together in recent months, I hope they will in future.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet coup, made in an interview held in London on Wednesday 21st August 1991.

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QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked whether the coup was definitely over].

PRIME MINISTER:

Yes, it does seem as though it is. It looks as though the coup is over and it looks also as though President Gorbachev will be back in Moscow this evening and back in power. That is very good news indeed.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked how he felt about that].

PRIME MINISTER:

I am delighted. The danger that existed over the past 48 hours if this coup succeeded can scarcely be overstated. What was actually at risk over the last 48 hours was whether one of the largest and most powerful nations in the world continued down a democratic path of reform or moved back to repression with all the dangers of the cold war that we knew for so many years. The right side has won. It is very good news indeed.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked why he felt the coup failed].

PRIME MINISTER:

I think there are many reasons why it failed and a great deal of time and trouble will be spent on analysing that later. There were, I think, a number of things that were significant.

I don’t think it was terribly well-handled from the point of view of those organising the coup. I think the enormous and unanimous condemnation of the rest of the world publicly of the coup was of immense encouragement to the people resisting it. That is not just my view; that is the view that has been expressed to me by Mr. Shevardnadze, Mr. Yakovlev, President Yeltsin and many others as well to whom I have spoken to the last 48 hours. The moral pressure from the West and the fact that we were prepared to state unequivocally that the coup was illegal and that we wanted the legal government restored, was of immense help in the Soviet Union. I think that did play a part.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet coup, made in an interview held in London on Wednesday 21st August 1991.

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QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked whether it was good news that the coup had failed].

PRIME MINISTER:

I think it is very good news, yes. The prospect of what might have happened if this coup had succeeded was almost unthinkable. It would have changed the whole balance of power between the world; it would have changed the influence; it would have changed the improving relationship that there has been between East and West for the last decade or so; and it would have been an immense setback for all of us. It is a very good night indeed; a very good night for democracy.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked whether the attempted coup failed because it lacked support or because it was badly led].

PRIME MINISTER:
In the medium-term, I think it was doomed to failure because of the changes there had been in the Soviet Union. Political freedom is now abroad in the Soviet Union and I don’t believe once a freedom like that is available to people, that they will give it up and so I think in the medium-term this coup could not possibly have succeeded but in the short-term, of course, through repression it could have succeeded perhaps for weeks, perhaps for months, perhaps even for a few years; thankfully, it hasn’t.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked whether Mr Yeltsin had been over-dramatic when saying that time was running out].

PRIME MINISTER:

He might have been right. When I spoke to President Yeltsin then, there were tanks heading towards the Parliamentary Building; they stopped. For all he knew, they might not have stopped; they might have over-run the Parliamentary Building; they might have arrested Yeltsin; they might then have cut off the communications with the rest of the world. Nobody knew what might have happened. It didn’t happen and it didn’t happen in the view of people in the Soviet Union for several reasons: because the Muscovites and other people in other cities were resisting the troops; it didn’t happen in the view of those people I have spoken to because of the universal condemnation of people in the West; the moral support that was given, I am told was very important to the people who were there; that is what they have said to me.

The fact that we made it clear that the coup was illegal and that we wanted the legal government of the Soviet Union restored made an immense difference those people in the Parliamentary Building have said to me, an immense difference to their spirit and to what happened in the Soviet Union.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s joint doorstep interview with Dr Kagalovski, held in London on Wednesday 21st August 1991.

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PRIME MINISTER:

Dr Kagalovski [phon] and I have had a most useful and worthwhile meeting this morning. He spoke just before coming to see me to members of President Yeltsin’s entourage in the Russian Parliament, as you know a debate is continuing there at this very moment.

Last night the Russian Parliament was not stormed, that is a hopeful sign, but I must say there are still many threatening signs about and nobody should overlook the possibility of non-Russian troops, Asian troops, actually being used to storm the Parliamentary building at a later time. I must say I believe that would be a fatal error and I hope that will not happen, it would be a very grave sign indeed if that were to happen. Throughout the whole of the Soviet Union, the White House. the Russian Parliament is the symbol of democracy at the moment and everybody here in the West will be looking to make sure that that symbol of democracy is not damaged.

We still wish to see the restoration of the legitimate government in the Soviet Union and I have made that very clear this morning to Dr Kagalovski in our discussions and we have arranged to remain in close touch over the next few days as necessary.

I will now invite him to say a few words to you and then Dr Kagalovski and then me if you wish will answer your questions.

DR KAGALOVSKI:

Good day. Today the fate of our country is being decided. It is very important to have the support of the world community and I would like to thank the government of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister, Mr Major. for his moral and political support of the legal government of Russia in their struggle against the junta that is trying to take power in our country and who are trying to set up an anti-peoples regime.

Thank you very much.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION:

I wonder if the Doctor could confirm reports we are getting, if he has that information, which is that Mr Boris Yeltsin has ordered the arrest of those hard-liners involved in the coup and that there are reports that some of the group of eight are trying to flee the country at the moment?

DR KAGALOVSKI:

I have no specific information on this.

QUESTION:

Does the Prime Minister care to comment on that?

PRIME MINISTER:

We have no corroboration to that at this stage.

QUESTION:

But is it your judgment that there is now disarray beyond doubt?

PRIME MINISTER:

I do not think one can be clear about that yet, there are all sorts of signs, some of them are encouraging, some of them are less encouraging, we may know more in a few hours and I will comment then.

QUESTION:

These reports come from the Russian Federation parliament itself and Yeltsin addressing that parliament, they are quite firm that the committee of eight is driving out to Moscow airport is what Mr Yeltsin is suggesting. If it is correct you presumably welcome it?

PRIME MINISTER:

When and if we have confirmation I will comment on it, I will not keep you waiting for comments if we have the information but we do not have it yet. There are many stories coming through, some of them are capable of being confirmed, some are not. I do not wish to add to anything until I am certain of my facts.

QUESTION:

Would you say that the coup looks like it is on its last legs now?

PRIME MINISTER:

No, I do not think you can say the coup is on its last legs. I said yesterday when we discussed the matter yesterday that I did not think that the success of the coup was a fait accompli. I think events subsequently have confirmed that. But the situation is still threatening and nobody should be certain the situation has ceased to be threatening until this matter has been properly resolved and legitimate government is back in charge in the Soviet Union. That has not yet happened, there are many twists and turns that may yet lie ahead of us, I think we must wait and see how those turn out.

QUESTION:

Even if Mr Gorbachev were to return, do you believe that he is irreversibly weakened and that perhaps Mr Yeltsin will be the man with whom the British government and other Western governments will be doing business in the months and years to come?

DR KAGALOVSKI:

I personally do not believe in the illness of President Gorbachev and I believe that once he is free to take charge of the country we will see what type of relations we will establish with him.

QUESTION:

Would you like to see Mr Yeltsin as the ultimate President of the Soviet Union given the clear support he has at home and given the fact that whatever happens Mr Gorbachev will have been shaken by this experience?

DR KAGALOVSKI:

I think that we must wait for comment until President Gorbachev is free and then we can discuss the relationship between the Union Republics.

QUESTION:

Prime Minister, have you information suggesting that Asian troops are on the move?

PRIME MINISTER:

It is a matter of concern that whilst I think there is a growing view in the Soviet Union that Russian-speaking troops would be reluctant to storm the Parliament, of course Asian troops not speaking Russian may not have quite the same reluctance. And I wish to raise the matter so that we can make it clear beyond any doubt to the group of eight that that would not be acceptable in any way and to ensure that they regard the parliamentary building as being inviolate, it is inviolate, the legitimate government should be restored and it should not be attacked in any way. I hope nobody thinks that that could remotely be made acceptable in London or in any other capital of the world.

QUESTION:

You are registering your support for the likes of Mr Yeltsin as democratically elected leaders, is there any more you can do and have you been asked this morning to do any more to support Mr Yeltsin and his colleagues?

PRIME MINISTER:

It has been made perfectly clear to us this morning that the importance of moral support, the broadcasts that have been made, the clear condemnation of the coup that has been unreserved from the whole of the free world is an immense help to those in the Soviet Union who are fighting for democracy and for freedom at the moment. There is no doubt that that support will continue, it will continue in the practical forms that were set out in the freezing of aid in the European Community, in the United States and Canada and elsewhere over recent days. Further measures may follow but I think it is premature to discuss those at the moment.

QUESTION:

Would it help if you were to now recognise the independence of the Baltic states to do more on a much more wider scale?

PRIME MINISTER:

We have always had contacts with the Baltic states and indeed the individual republics, but our primary concern at the moment are those I set out yesterday: to restore legitimate government to the Soviet Union; to see President Gorbachev free; to offer all the comfort and support we can to the people who have been directly elected and who have democratic legitimacy in the Soviet Union – that is our first concern and of course to avoid bloodshed, we are bending all our efforts to that at the moment.

QUESTION:

Is Mr Gorbachev free at the moment?

PRIME MINISTER:

We have no firm information on that, it does seem that representatives of the Russian republics, the Vice-President I think, the Prime Minister I think and possibly accompanied by Mr Kruchkev [phon], may be going to see President Gorbachev. We believe that is the case, I do not have final confirmation of that at the moment but we believe that may be the case, I hope so.

QUESTION:

Any hard new decisions to be taken at the special summit in The Hague?

PRIME MINISTER:

We will be consulting with our European partners during the course of today and tomorrow prior to the summit at The Hague but events are moving at such a pace at the moment I do not think I can offer you a clear view at the moment of what may be decided at The Hague later on this week.

QUESTION:

Dr Kagalovski, is there any more you would like to see the UK doing and indeed the UK’s European partners?

DR KAGALOVSKI:

I believe that the strong position which the government of Great Britain has taken, that is the best step for the normalisation of the situation in our country and I thank the British government for taking such a strong moral and political position on the future of our country.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet situation, made in an interview held in London on Tuesday 20th August 1991.

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QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked if he had been able to reassure Boris Yeltsin that he had British support].

PRIME MINISTER:

I was certainly able to reassure Mr Yeltsin of our support for the reform programme in the Soviet Union, that has been strong and remains strong, it is only by implementing a reform programme that the Soviet Union will improve its own condition and sustain its position I think over the years in the world community. So that was the first assurance I was able to give him.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked what support he had been asked to give by Mr Yeltsin].

PRIME MINISTER:

He was very keen firstly that we should ask the leaders of the coup to release President Gorbachev, he made it clear that President Gorbachev was not ill, had recently been examined by a doctor, was still being held in the Crimea but remained the legally appointed President of the Soviet Union and that he should be freed, that was the first point he made. I undertook to ensure to him that that was the British Government’s position and we would make that clear to the leaders of the coup in the Soviet Union. He asked also that there should be an independent examination of President Gorbachev’s health, I undertook to demand that also. He thirdly asked that we should require direct communications between President Gorbachev and President Bush in Washington and myself in London. I undertook to make those requirements as well and we will be passing those demands on to the Soviet Ambassador within minutes.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s press conference, held outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday 20th August 1991, on the events in the Soviet Union.

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PRIME MINISTER:

I spoke a short while ago to President Yeltsin in the Russian Parliamentary Building. I agreed with him to make public the contents of our conversation and so I will on this occasion refer to the notes I made during our discussion.

President Yeltsin made a number of points that I would particularly wish to refer to:

He said that matters were becoming even more complicated while we spoke. The Group of Eight were taking ever more decisive measures to capture the Russian Republic’s building. They had completely isolated President Gorbachev. He did remain in the Crimea and was as not, as rumour had suggested, in Moscow. There were no telephone communications near President Gorbachev and the runway close to where he was being held had been closed.

Mr. Yeltsin went on to say that a curfew had been announced in Moscow. Intense efforts were being made to take the building in which he and his colleagues were blocked in for the second day running. The statement that had been made by Yanayev about President’s Gorbachev’s health was untrue. President Gorbachev had been examined by a doctor as recently as 19 August; he had been found to be in almost completely good health with only a few very minor complaints.

President Yeltsin went on to say that he could not rule out that his building would be stormed today though he hoped that this would be averted. Hundreds of thousands of his supporters were out on the streets; he hoped that no extreme measures would be taken against them.
He expressed his gratitude in very fulsome terms for the support he had received from the West, from the United States and from the British people in particular. He hoped that we would continue to coordinate the activities of the world community against the originators of the coup in Moscow.

At that stage in our conversation, President Yeltsin interrupted to say that tanks were moving towards the building from which he was speaking. He said to me that he believed he had not very much time left. At that point, we agreed the action to be taken.

President Yeltsin asked that we demand that President Gorbachev be freed; he was the legal President of the Soviet Union. I am happy to give him the assurance that that is the position of the British Government, that we do expect President Gorbachev to be freed and we are making that crystal clear to the Soviet Union leaders who have taken part in this coup.

Secondly, he asked that we should demand the establishment of communications between President Gorbachev and President Bush in Washington and myself in London. I promised I would carry those points further and make those demands.

Thirdly, in the light of the allegations about President Gorbachev’s health, he asked that we demand that President Gorbachev be independently examined in order that his health might be determined. We shall certainly do that this afternoon.

Fourthly, President Yeltsin asked for us to continue to give as much public support as possible to the reform movement in the Soviet Union and to the position in particular that existed within the Russian Republics. I was able to give him that assurance as well.

We concluded our conversation not at all certain what will happen in the next few hours by saying that we would endeavour to keep in touch over the next few days in whatever way we could.

I will take one or two questions but just one or two.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION:

If the building is stormed, isn’t it time for the West to take much stronger action against the current leadership in the Soviet Union?

PRIME MINISTER:

I think the action that is being taken at the moment has made the world’s condemnation of what has happened absolutely clear. It is difficult to see what other action could be taken at this time. We do need to make our condemnation clear; it is clear and it will remain so.

QUESTION:

Could you at least say that the Western and British Governments recognise only Mr. Gorbachev or indeed perhaps Mr. Yeltsin as the rightful leaders in the Soviet Union?

PRIME MINISTER:

We have made it clear before that the coup that has toppled Mr. Gorbachev is illegal and unconstitutional. The constitutional President of the Soviet Union is Mikhail Gorbachev. There is a constitutional way to remove him; it was not used. He remains the constitutional leader of the Soviet Union. Other leaders have some legitimacy: President Yeltsin in the Russian Republic is amongst them; they have been elected; there are others as well. They are the constitutional leaders.

QUESTION:

Are you concerned, Prime Minister?

PRIME MINISTER:

At the moment I am determined to do whatever we can to sustain the reform programme, to see if we can get President Gorbachev free, to see if we can avert bloodshed in the Soviet Union. Those are our primary concerns; that is what will govern our policy.

QUESTION:

You said the coup is not yet a fait accompli or perhaps may not be a fait accompli. It is, isn’t it?

PRIME MINISTER:

No, I don’t believe it is a fait accompli. There is certainly resistance to it. It is also clear from the fact that I was able to get through to President Yeltsin a few moments ago that some lines of communication at least up until now have been open, so I don’t think it is a fait accompli yet, no.

QUESTION:

But Prime Minister, what did Mr. Yeltsin mean by “not very much time left”? Was he speaking specifically of the storming of the Parliament or does he mean that in his position he doesn’t have much time?

PRIME MINISTER:

I understood him to mean the storming of the Parliament. I have no doubt that that is what he had in mind.

QUESTION:

Have you attempted to speak to the new Russian regime itself, the leaders there?

PRIME MINISTER:

No, I have not.