The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Boris Yeltsin

  • Mr Major’s Joint Doorstep Interview with President Yeltsin – 30 January 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s joint doorstep interview with President Boris Yeltsin, given in London on Thursday 30th January 1992.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Good Afternoon everyone. President Yeltsin and I have had four hours of talks this morning and over lunch, some of it in very restricted session and some of it with other Ministers.

    As you may recall, my first contact with President Yeltsin was at the height of the August coup and some of you may remember that at that time I came out into Downing Street to report that conversation.

    Britain at that time was the first country to denounce the coup. I wanted on that day in August to draw the world’s attention to the courage of President Yeltsin and his followers in the White House. They fought for their lives and for the future of democracy in their country.

    It is therefore a particular pleasure to welcome President Yeltsin here today as President of Russia. Today we have made new progress in building a new relationship between our two countries.

    We have always had shared interests, now we have shared values as well, the shared values of democracy, a free economy and a commitment to peace and to stability.

    I was glad to have the opportunity today to welcome the arms control initiative taken by President Bush and by President Yeltsin. I expressed our very strong support for further moves towards deterrence at lower levels. I also assured the President of our intention to maintain only a minimum nuclear strategic force, threatening no-one.

    Today, we have been able to give a practical and important expression to the new relationship between our two countries. I will mention ten points to illustrate that.

    We have signed this morning a joint declaration. This commits our two countries to a relationship of friendship as partners in the international community. It commits us to the peaceful settlement of disputes, to the control of weapons of mass destruction and to non-proliferation. We propose to turn this declaration into a formal treaty on the relations between our two countries in the near future. It will be the first such treaty of such substance between Britain and the Soviet Union since the mid-1770s.

    Secondly, Britain is determined to help democracy in Russia. It has already done a great deal to provide assistance to Russia and the new Commonwealth and it proposes to do more. Amongst some of the measures taken already was Britain’s share of Community aid at 300 million; a Know-How Fund already committed to over 50 projects; the provision of animal feed grain, particularly to St Petersburg; medical assistance; and a financial training assistance programme under which there will be places for 1,000 Russians with British financial insurance and legal firms.

    Thirdly, Britain was the first country to propose Russian membership of the International Monetary Fund and to propose an April deadline for that membership. We will continue to press for that, we believe it is urgent and important that that matter is concluded.

    Fourthly, we took the lead in negotiating a debt deferral agreement for Russia and the other republics. We have also taken the lead in the Group of Seven to urge further assistance for Russia, possibly in the form of a rouble stabilisation fund.

    Fifthly, and in the context of an IMF programme, I can announce today our readiness to make available this year a total of 280 million in medium term export credit cover and investment insurance for Russia and the other republics.

    Sixthly, Britain will propose in the European Community an improved trade and cooperation agreement with Russia. We propose to make this one of the priorities of our Presidency in the second half of this year.

    Seventh, we have agreed to cooperate on handling surplus Soviet nuclear weapons and safeguarding nuclear materials and we will be sending a technical mission to Moscow to assess the immediate needs at first hand.

    Eighthly, we have agreed to cooperate in other defence fields, including the transformation required to ensure the restructuring, control and financing of armed forces in a democratic society. I have offered to second a small number of MOD officials to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

    Ninthly, the President and I discussed the problems of expertise in the field of weapons of mass destruction and the President told me of the steps he is taking against the risks of proliferation. We will have further discussion about how best we can help the Russian republic and the other republics to use the talents of their scientists to the cause of peaceful development.

    And the tenth point is this. President Yeltsin and I have agreed to establish a secure telephone link between his office and mine. I do not see this as a crisis hotline, I do see it as a line upon which we can reflect the growing number of shared issues and interests that we will wish to discuss.

    Let me also mention, I have invited President Yeltsin to pay an official visit to Britain later this year and I am delighted to say he has accepted.

    This afternoon we both fly to New York for a meeting of the Security Council which will demonstrate Russia’s role as a lynchpin in the Council’s role as peace-keeper and peace-maker. The keynote of the meeting that we have had today, the President and I and our colleagues in parallel meetings, has been an aspect of friendship and of partnership. I am confident that that is also going to be a hallmark of tomorrow’s meeting of the Security Council.

    I very much look forward to my further discussions with President Yeltsin and I will now invite him to say a few words to you.

    PRESIDENT YELTSIN:

    Mr. Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen:

    First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the Prime Minister for his very good idea which he put across to me over the telephone recently to pay a visit to this country. Indeed, we established our first contact on August 19 1990 and it was really a matter of great pride for me to hear him address me at this most difficult time for Russia. He expressed his political support and he expressed his personal support, which will not be forgotten in our developing and new relationship between Russia and the United Kingdom, between the new Russia and Britain.

    I don’t really have anything to add to the enumeration of the ten points which were just described by the Prime Minister with regard to our discussions in private and in plenary. I can only add that Russia has shaken off the communist shackles and has finally embarked upon the civilised road of development, the road of democracy, human rights, civilised market economy and various forms of ownership including private ownership and we shall not abandon that road.

    The economic reform which has just started in Russia was five years overdue and indeed, we are going through hard times right now. We shall overcome all the difficulties that we are facing though the difficulties we are facing with the liberalisation of prices have fallen mostly on the poorer population. We are sure that by the end of this year we shall achieve some stabilisation of our economy, levelling of prices and improved living conditions for our people.

    Despite the seemingly economic cares and the forecasts by the economists that our economy would shrink by 15%, last year it had sunk only by 2.2%. Russia is a great country and it will dampen all small storms and smaller earthquakes. The only thing that can impede our progress would be general unrest and general unrest would happen if our reforms fair. Should the reforms fail, we shall face a new leadership which will reverse the progress that we have so far achieved and Russia will fall into the abyss which had been fixed for 74 years. Therefore, not only Russia and the people of Russia but the entire world community as well as the United Kingdom are interested in the success of our reforms and we are grateful to the Prime Minister for his understanding on that score.

    Tomorrow, the Security Council of the United Nations is to meet and for the first time ever the Security Council will meet at the level of Heads of State or Government; that was the initiative and the proposal’ by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. Major, and he will be chairing that meeting on the last day of the chairmanship of the United Kingdom of the Security Council. I can only promise that we shall always match the support that: will be given to us to promote our economic reform.

    I have accepted the invitation which the Prime Minister has kindly extended to me to pay an official visit to this country in the first half of this year and in my turn, I extended that invitation to him to pay an official visit to Russia in the second half of this year and I am delighted to report that he has accepted that invitation.

    I would like to thank the mass media for turning out here in such great numbers. Thank you so much for coming. I would like to thank the Prime Minister for the substantive discussions that we have held and for the positive and interesting attitude that he has displayed. We believe – and I think we share this – that our relations will in future be based on frankness and honesty because this will make it possible for us not to conceal from each other either things positive or negative.

    I am saying goodbye to the Prime Minister and Mrs. Major. We shall be seeing each tomorrow in New York and I thank you for your attention.

     

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

    QUESTION:

    Do you believe that the world is as secure a place now with Boris Yeltsin and the Commonwealth of Independent States as it was with Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Yes. I have no doubts about President Yeltsin’s commitment to carry on the work that was going on before in terms of disarmament and especially the disarmament between the two super-states. I think the President’s conviction is clear. He has reiterated that to me this morning and I accept that.

    PRESIDENT YELTSIN:

    I would like to add a few words. President Bush on 28 January and myself on 29 January, made statements about global cuts and the destruction of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. Mr. Major and I have discussed these matters today during our talks and Mr. Major has put forward his position which I respect and we shall not blow up this matter out of proportion in the mass media.

    QUESTION:

    Regarding the IMF application for the Russian Federation. How feasible is that? How difficult is it? How feasible is rouble stabilisation?

    And for Mr. Yeltsin, if possible: he spoke teasingly last night of talking to you about redirecting his missiles. Have you now agreed to point Russian missiles away from the United Kingdom?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Let me deal firstly with the question of the IMF and rouble stabilisation:

    I believe that it is very important that Russia soon becomes a full member of the IMF. We have stated that as our conviction for some time; we have urged our colleagues in the IMF to move in that direction; and the Chancellor has particularly urged that a conclusion for that be reached speedily and not later than April so it is necessary and we will press it and I am sure that we will be successful.

    As far as rouble stabilisation is concerned, again, Norman Lamont pressed that matter particularly at the G7 meeting of Finance Ministers last week. There are many difficulties to overcome but it is our conviction in the United Kingdom that this is both necessary and desirable and that in due course the international community will come to it. We shall certainly continue to press the case for that in the weeks and months ahead.

    PRESIDENT YELTSIN:

    On the first question, I would like to add a few words as well: with the Prime Minister’s active support, I am sure that Russia will become a full member of the International Monetary Fund not later than this April.

    On your second question, we must indeed change our military doctrine. In the past, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe in general were regarded as our potential enemies. That doctrine has to be changed and the missiles retargeted and the missiles that remain after the cuts and destruction will be used only as a deterrent.

  • Mr Major’s Doorstep Interview in New York – 30 January 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep interview on Thursday 30th January 1992, on his arrival at his New York hotel.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Good evening! Thank you for being here this evening.

    We have tomorrow an extremely unusual event. I think tomorrow will be the first time in well over forty years that the Security Council has met for an Extraordinary Meeting at Heads of Government level. I believe it is justified for a number of reasons:

    It has been an extraordinarily turbulent time in the world over the last year or so; there are a vast number of matters we need to discuss: disarmament, non-proliferation; it is an excellent opportunity to introduce President Yeltsin as a member of the Permanent Five and, of course, for the new Secretary-General, Boutros Ghali, to attend his first meeting of the Security Council but above all at our meeting tomorrow, apart from the exchanges of views that we will have on a vast range of matters, I hope we will be able to remit from the Security Council to the Secretary-General a remit for him to examine the role of the United Nations and in particular its special role of peace-keeping and peace-making. There does seem to me to be an opportunity for the United Nations to play a much higher profile, pro-active role in the future than it has done in recent years and I very much hope that will be one of the outcomes of tomorrow’s meeting.

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, will the meeting be able to offer Mr. Yeltsin anything more than just kind words?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I don’t think the meeting tomorrow is about Mr. Yeltsin’s immediate difficulties; I think that is more a matter for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank rather than the Security Council tomorrow which will be more concerned with peace and disarmament matters. The British believe that it will be necessary, as soon as the Russians become members of the International Monetary Fund, to offer quite significant help but I don’t think that is a particular matter for discussion at the meeting tomorrow.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, how firm will the United Nations be able to be on the issue of human rights and democracy not only in the Soviet but in China, for example?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    That, again, is not the purpose of the meeting tomorrow. I am sure it is a matter that will be raised in some of the speeches tomorrow; it will also be a matter that will be raised in the substantial amount of bilateral contact there will be; it is certainly a matter that I intend to raise in some of my bilateral discussions but I do not think, again, that that is the primary matter that we have in front of us tomorrow.

    The primary matter we have in front of us tomorrow is effectively the role of the United Nations, how it can become more pro-active, what it can actually as a peace-maker, as a broker between dissentient nations; that is the matter that I think principally colleagues on the Security Council will wish to discuss tomorrow.

    QUESTION:

    The Germans feel left out – rightfully so?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The Germans are not at this moment a member of the Security Council but they are a very important nation. I had the opportunity before coming here today to have a couple of conversations with Chancellor Kohl; I am aware of his views; I have no doubt that Chancellor Kohl has spoken to other people.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, on Security Council matters, we are waiting for a follow-up Resolution on Libya to show the international community’s response to terrorism at Lockerbie. Can you tell us when we can expect some sanctions proposed by Britain, France and America?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think the follow-up Resolution is a little way away yet; it certainly won’t come tomorrow. My guess – and it can only be a guess – is that it is likely to come towards the end of February but there is a great deal of work to be done before it is ready but I do believe there will be a follow-up Resolution and that it is necessary.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, I know you have mentioned it briefly, but some people are saying tomorrow is really a large photo-opportunity. What do you think will essentially make it more than that?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I don’t believe that that is the case. As I said a moment ago, this is the first occasion in fact for 47 years that the Heads of Government of the Security Council have been tempted here to an Extraordinary Meeting of this sort. They have come here because there are matters of real substance that it is necessary for us to discuss. There has been a revolution in the attitude and possibilities of what the United Nations can do over recent years and I will give you several reasons for that:

    – the status of the United Nations improved dramatically because of the key role it played during the Gulf dispute;
    – the activities of Mr. Picot, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, in terms of dealing with the hostages was another reason to build up the status of the United Nations;
    – in many parts of the world they are acting in one form or another in a peace-making role.

    It is not all that long ago that the United Nations role was largely confined to sending along observers. Now that is no longer the case; there is a great deal more they can do. We have a new Secretary-General, we have a Permanent Five that are working in harmony in a way we haven’t previously seen in the past. For many years, the Permanent Five was a forum in which dissentient views were expressed; now, views of assent are increasingly expressed and that opens an opportunity that simply has not been there before to look at the United Nations and see how rapidly we can move towards the instincts and aspirations its founders had so many years ago. Tomorrow is another small step in that direction.

    QUESTION:

    Do you think it might turn out to be a celebration of a new world order which could yet turn out to be fragile?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Everyone, I think, is pleased at the way in which matters developed over the past year in the former Soviet Union, the collapse of communism in a regime that has been discredited in most of the outside world for generations but it survived in strength and was a threat to us in the West – that has gone. That, I think, is a cause for quiet satisfaction.

    I think President Bush was entirely right to say the Cold War is over and the Cold War has been won by the West but it isn’t an occasion tomorrow for drinking glasses of champagne and patting ourselves on the back. We have to look forward. We have a different situation now; no longer that grisly stability of confrontation between East and West – it isn’t the same now. We do have a series of different problems arising, different problems in the Middle East, different problems in Europe – one only has to look at Yugoslavia – and other potential problems and trouble-spots in different parts of the world. We have to come to grips with that and decide how we deal with it. There is no other forum other than the United Nations than can pick up these problems and act as an international broker in times of difficulties. I believe, therefore, that anything we can do to improve cooperation within the United Nations and the status and authority of the United Nations is something well worth doing and I believe that will be the view of everyone who attends tomorrow.

  • Mr Major’s Statement on the Visit of President Yeltsin – 30 January 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s statement on the visit of President Yeltsin, issued on Thursday 30th January 1992.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    President Yeltsin and I have had over four hours of talks, some of it in very restricted session, some with other Ministers.

    My first contact with President Yeltsin was at the height of the August coup. Some of you may remember that I came out into Downing Street to report that conversation. Britain was the first country to denounce the coup. I wanted, on that day in August, to draw the world’s attention to the courage of President Yeltsin and his followers in the White House. They fought for their lives and for the future of democracy in their country.

    It is a particular pleasure to welcome President Yeltsin today as President of Russia. Today we have made progress in building a new relationship between our two countries. We have always had shared interests. Now we have shared values as well. The shared values of democracy, a free economy and a commitment to peace and stability.

    I was glad to have the opportunity today to welcome the arms control initiative taken by President Bush and President Yeltsin. I expressed our strong support for further moves towards deterrence at much lower levels, based on the most stable systems. I assured him of our intention to maintain only a minimum strategic deterrent force, threatening no one.

    We have given a practical and important expression today to our new relationship. I will mention ten points.

    1. We have signed a joint declaration this morning. This commits our two countries to a relationship of friendship as partners in the international community. It commits us to the peaceful settlement of disputes; to the control of weapons of mass destruction and to non-proliferation. We propose to turn this Declaration into a formal Treaty on the relations between our two countries in the near future.

    2. Britain is determined to help democracy in Russia. It has already done a great deal to provide assistance to Russia and the new Commonwealth.

    – Britain’s share of EC aid is £300 million;
    – Know-how fund of £50 million already committed to over 50 projects (including improvement of bread distribution in Moscow);
    – £20 million feed grain package to St. Petersburg;
    – Medical assistance of £2 million;
    – Financial sector training initiative: there will be places for 1,000 Russians with British financial, insurance and legal firms.

    3. Britain was the first country to propose Russian membership of the IMF and to propose an April deadline for that membership. We will press for that.

    4. We took the lead in negotiating a debt deferral agreement for Russia and the other republics. We have also taken a lead in the Group of 7 to urge further assistance for Russia, possibly in the form of a rouble stabilisation fund.

    5. In the context of an IMF programme, I can announce today our readiness to make available in 1992 a total of £280 million in medium term export credit cover and investment insurance for Russia and the other Republics.

    6. Britain will propose in the EC an improved trade and cooperation agreement with Russia. We will make this one of the priorities of our Presidency.

    7. We have agreed to cooperate on handling surplus Soviet nuclear weapons and safeguarding nuclear materials and we will be sending a technical mission to Moscow to assess the immediate needs at first hand.

    8. We have agreed to cooperate in other defence fields including the transformation required to ensure the restructuring, control and financing of armed forces in a democratic society. I have offered to second a small number of MOD officials to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

    9. The President and I discussed the problem of expertise in the field of weapons of mass destruction and the President told me of the steps he is taking against the risks of proliferation. We will have further discussion about how best we can help the Russian Republic and other Republics to use the talents of their scientists in the cause of peaceful development.

    10. President Yeltsin and I have agreed to establish a secure telephone link between his office and mine. I do not see this as a crisis hot line. It will reflect the growing number of shared issues and interests that we will wish to discuss.

    I have invited President Yeltsin to pay an official visit to Britain later this year. I am delighted to say that he has accepted.

    This afternoon we both fly to New York for a meeting of the Security Council which will demonstrate Russia’s role as a linchpin in the Council’s role as peacekeeper and peacemaker. The keynote of our meeting today has been friendship and partnership. I am sure that will also be a hallmark of tomorrow’s meeting of the Security Council.

  • Mr Major’s Joint Declaration with the Russian Federation – 30 January 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s Joint Declaration with the Russian Federation, issued on 30th January 1992.

    JOINT DECLARATION BY THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Russian Federation are opening a new page in their relations. They have left behind the period of the Cold War, do not threaten each other’s national interests and are committed to universal democratic principles and aspirations.

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Russian Federation, further referred to as the Parties, guided by a spirit of mutual respect and in the interests of developing wide-ranging and friendly relations between their two countries and also their broad cooperation in the international arena, have agreed upon the following:

    I

    1. The Parties recognise that, with the dissolution of the USSR, a group of independent and sovereign states has joined the world community. At the same time, the Russian Federation continues to be responsible in full for the international rights and obligations previously assumed by the Soviet Union.

    2. The Parties declare that the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation are friendly States and partners within the international community. Relations between them will be founded on a shared commitment to the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and also upon respect for the letter and spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Charter for a New Europe and other documents of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

    3. Between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation there are no ideological barriers, and no political impediments to the growth of friendship and mutual understanding between the British and Russian peoples.

    II

    4. The Parties recognise their special responsibility as Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council for the maintenance of the peace and security of all States and to cooperate in the fulfilment of the principles of justice, democracy and common human values. They will do all in their power to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations Organisation.

    5. The Parties welcome the transition from confrontation to cooperation in Europe and the world, and the resultant strengthening of the security of all States. They declare that their armed forces are designated purely for defensive purposes. The United Kingdom and the Russian Federation are committed to the principle that the command, control and management of armed forces should be organised within the framework of democratic institutions and the rule of law. The Parties attach the highest importance to the maintenance of international stability and security during this time of deep transformation in Europe and in the former Soviet Union. They declare their commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes by political means and through dialogue.

    6. The Parties intend to undertake all steps necessary to ensure that nuclear weapons, and all other weapons of mass destruction, are held at all times under secure control. They believe that any proliferation of weapons of mass destruction carries serious risks for international peace and security.

    7. The Parties reaffirm their strong commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention of 1972, and their readiness to conclude an agreement on a comprehensive ban on chemical weapons. They will remain in active consultation on these questions, and will also examine the potential for British/Russian cooperation in the destruction and safe disposal of surplus weapons in Russia. The United Kingdom and the Russian Federation will take steps to prevent the transfer to other countries of technology and expert knowledge which could contribute to the development of nuclear armaments and of other types of weapon of mass destruction.

    8. The United Kingdom and the Russian Federation will work together to consolidate and carry forward agreements for the reduction of forces and armaments. They look to the very early ratification and implementation of the CFE Treaty, as well as of the START Agreement and of other measures to reduce nuclear weapons.

    III

    9. The Parties will organise regular exchanges of Ministerial visits. They will encourage inter-Parliamentary cooperation and contacts between legislative and executive bodies in the two countries, and will promote the exchange of experience in the preparation and implementation of legislation. The Parties will give all appropriate assistance to the development of contacts between public and private organisations in the two countries.

    10. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation will hold regular consultations on both bilateral and international questions.

    11. The Parties favour the further development of exchanges between the armed forces and Defence Ministries of the two countries at different levels and will seek to extend the scope and content of these exchanges.

    IV

    12. The Parties share the view that it is the objective of Governments to establish conditions for the development of free enterprise and of the creative abilities of individuals. They are committed to bilateral cooperation in conditions of a free market, economic liberalisation, free trade and sound management.

    The Parties believe that the integration of the Russian Federation in the world economic system is a vital objective. This process will encourage private investment, stimulate trade and assist the more effective utilization of Russia’s large human and natural resources. The United Kingdom will continue to give active support to the Russian Federation’s application for membership at the earliest possible time of the International Monetary Fund, and of other international economic organisations.

    13. The Parties acknowledge that there is potential for a large increase in trade between the two countries. They agree that economic reform, agreement on debt questions and the creation of a clear legal environment for investment will establish conditions for greater involvement by British companies in the Russian Federation.

    14. The Parties consider it especially important that closer relations in different areas should be developed between all the countries of Europe.

    The Russian Federation welcomes the United Kingdom’s longstanding commitment to an outward-looking European Community. The United Kingdom will continue to support the development of effective ties between the European Community and the Russian Federation.

    V

    15. The Parties acknowledge the importance of the early signature of a British/Russian Treaty, designed to consolidate the fundamental principles of future relations between the two countries.

    Signed by:

    JOHN MAJOR, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

    BORIS N YELTSIN, President of the Russian Federation

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Union – 31 December 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet Union, made in an interview held on Tuesday 31st December 1991.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if the situation in the former Soviet Union was potentially dangerous].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think firstly one has to consider what Gorbachev has achieved and I think he deserves fair consideration. He has achieved I think two things: he has set the Soviet Union on the road to democracy but it is a difficult and it is a rocky road and it will take some time. And secondly what he has achieved is effectively the end of that form of socialism not just in the Soviet Union but around the whole world. Throughout the world you see it, in Latin America as well, countries that did declare themselves socialist are now looking at free markets and a different way of life. That is a very remarkable achievement.

    Against that, the future for the former Soviet Union is not going to be easy, there are going to be very great problems and it is essential that the West enters into the most comprehensive dialogue with each and every one of the new republics.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if Boris Yeltsin would be strong enough to bring about a stable new nation].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Only time will tell that, but he is a very considerable man. I think no-one who saw either at close quarters or at a distance the way he reacted during the coup could have any doubt about that. He is a man of stature, he is a man who is very concerned to make sure that Russia in particular is a success in the future and we must hope and help him to achieve the stature that will keep the Commonwealth together and enable the better relations we have had in recent years to continue.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if Mr Yeltsin understood the economic tasks ahead].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I am not sure that anyone in the republics understands the depths of the economic problems facing the Soviet Union. We have economic problems in the West as well, but they are frankly as nothing to the economic problems that are being faced now in the former Soviet Union and that will be there for a long time to come. No-one should imagine that suddenly putting a newer economic programme into place will be easy or that the results of it will be swift. There has been a massive loss of production, a massive decline in the old Soviet Union in recent years and it is highly likely that that will continue in the future.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked about the financial contribution the West might need to make].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think we should help the republics, I believe that is in our interests as well as I think being the humane sort of action that one would expect from the West. They do face very great difficulties. Over the past few months, largely because I have been Chairman of the Group of Seven, I have been intimately involved with the measures we have taken to put in place to help the republics in the future. There are many billion pounds worth of packages of assistance that are actually now available.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked about Mr Gorbachev comments of saying that more was needed].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Mr Gorbachev has said it is not enough but Mr Gorbachev also has acknowledged the tremendous amount that has been done both publicly and privately, some of the private letters he has written are letters I will treasure on that particular account. I have also proposed in the last few days that Russia should become full members of the IMF and the World Bank, I think that is a very important move forward. And I think it is also fair to say that this country has led the way in the provision of food aid and feed aid to animals in order to meet the short-term problems that they have, particularly in St Petersburg and in Moscow.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked whether nuclear weapons posed a danger].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I see no short-term risk there, but it is obviously a long term worry for a raft of reasons, not just who owns the nuclear weapons, but also whether some of the smaller republics might sell all or a part of their nuclear weapons armoury. And equally damaging, whether some of the nuclear scientific expertise that is in the former Soviet Union is actually purchased by Third World countries. We want to see no further proliferation of nuclear weapons and a reduction of the nuclear threshold that exists at present. So there are real worries there and that is why we are so keen to have a full and early dialogue with all the republics.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Union – 25 September 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet Union, made in an interview in London on Wednesday 25th September 1991.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked who he thought would be the strongest leader to come through in the Soviet Union].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    When I went to the Soviet Union I had the opportunity of meeting President Gorbachev, President Yeltsin and a large number of other Soviet leaders. Since then back in London I have had the opportunity of discussions with Mr Lushkev, Mr Sobchek and with a number of other leaders as well. So I have had the opportunity of seeing most of the significant Soviet leaders within the last three weeks or so, and it has been a series of very worthwhile meetings.

    For the immediate future I think that Mr Gorbachev and Mr Yeltsin will work together, they have different though complementary roles, they recognise that it is necessary internally for them to work together and I believe they recognise that it is necessary externally for them to work together for the time being.

    What will happen in the longer term future no-one can say. I believe there is no doubt that greater authority and influence is moving to the republics than was previously the case, but there is a role in the centre and we must wait and see how the Russian political system settles down, it may well be a form of confederation with both a continuing role for the President of the Union and the President of the republics.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked which policies the G7 should have towards the Soviet Union].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Let me put the answer to that question in a proper context. What has happened in the Soviet Union in the last few months is of historic importance, we have seen the ending of a communist state, the end of communism and the rapid development of a country that wants to move towards the sort of market system that we are familiar with in the West and that you are familiar with in Japan. They are absolutely momentous changes and nobody should understate that in any way.

    Because they are so important economically, politically and socially I believe the G7 countries should assist the Soviet Union to go down the process of reform, we cannot do it for them. Any help that we provide to the Soviet Union will be peripheral to the help that they must themselves provide in order to continue this reform path. But providing they have a proper reform programme and providing they make their own contribution, and I think by that we must look to see they have a firm commitment to reduce their defence expenditure, then I think it is in everyone’s interest, the interest of people in the Soviet Union and the interest of people in the rest of the world to help them carry that reform programme forward and that is what we would wish to do.

    In the short term this winter that may mean assisting with food, with the distribution of food, with all sorts of mechanistic assistance, with the development of schemes such as the British Know How scheme so that we can encourage collaboration between our companies, joint enterprises, and also so that we can give them the advice and experience we have gathered from years in how to run a successful mixed economy.

    I know that Japan has very significant joint collaborative schemes in the Soviet Union and I believe that is the right way forward and I think you will find many other countries going precisely down that path.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if the northern territory issue had been discussed].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    There is very close coordination amongst the G7 countries. For example, I liaised with Prime Minister Kaifu both before and after my visit to the Soviet Union and we exchange joint experiences where we think that would be helpful. I did raise the question of the northern islands with President Gorbachev, I cannot say I got an answer that encouraged me to believe there was going to be swift movement, I did make it clear to him that I thought movement on the northern islands would be very helpful for their relationship with Japan and for their wider relationships, but President Gorbachev made no commitments on our discussion.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Situation (II) – 1 September 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the Soviet situation, made in an interview held en route from Moscow to Beijing on Sunday 1st September 1991.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked whether Mr Gorbachev and Mr Yeltsin could work together].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think there is a requirement for them to work together. There is clearly a great advantage for the whole of the Soviet Union and the republics if they can. They will have to work out a new relationship; they are in the business of doing that; but I believe on the basis of the discussions I have had today that they will both attempt to work together in the future.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked what he thought of Boris Yeltsin, who had come across as powerful].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    As you say, a very powerful personality; a man of clear ideas, clear views and he expresses them very trenchantly.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked for an example].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    He was perfectly clear about the need for a reform programme, that it had to be a reform programme that was much more radical than anything that had been seen before; he didn’t equivocate about that, he said it. On nuclear arms, he was perfectly clear there had to be central control, he said it. There are a whole series of matters like that upon which some people might have equivocated, but he didn’t.

  • Mr Major’s Press Conference in Moscow – 1 September 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s press conference in Moscow on Sunday 1st September 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

    I am very pleased to have had this opportunity to come to Moscow and to have a whole range of discussions throughout the day. And I want first to express the very genuine relief that I feel, and that I believe people throughout Britain and the rest of the world feel at the failure of the attempted coup and at the restoration of President Gorbachev and the legitimate government in the Soviet Union.

    One of my first acts today was to lay a wreath to the memory of the few who gave their lives to the benefit of millions and I would like to pay tribute to them and to the courage of all those who risked their lives to preserve the Union’s new found liberty. I want also to express my very deep admiration of President Gorbachev and of Raisa Gorbachev who showed the most enormous strength under tremendous pressure. The failure of the coup is I believe a measure of what President Gorbachev and others have achieved over the last few years.

    I was able also to convey to President Yeltsin the admiration of the British people for the stand that he took and the stand that those also with him in the White House took just a few days ago. It was above all his determination and staunch bravery which faced down the perpetrators of the coup. President Yeltsin’s leadership was essential then and will be crucial as he and the other leaders shape the future of the Soviet Union and the republics. I have invited President Yeltsin to pay an official visit to Britain and he has accepted though it will take us a little while to determine appropriate dates.

    I have also had the great pleasure today of a meeting with the Prime Ministers of the three Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. As you all know, Britain never recognised the incorporation of the Baltic republics into the Soviet Union, the European Community recognised their independence last week. Douglas Hogg, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, will be visiting the Baltic republics this week and we shall be establishing a permanent diplomatic mission in the Baltics as soon as practicable. It was very moving for all of us today to be able to raise our glasses in welcome to them as part of the international family of free nations. We will be sponsoring their entry into the United Nations and will support their entry into other international organisations.

    The Soviet Union and the republics face momentous decisions and only they can take those decisions. At President Gorbachev’s request I had a second meeting with him this evening. At that meeting he was able to give me a detailed account of the intensive discussions he has been having today with representatives of the republics. Those discussions have focused on the relationship between the centre and the republics. I cannot go into detail now but the outcome of those discussions will become clear at tomorrow’s congress.

    Those people I have spoken today have expressed their wish for democracy with stability, that is our interest in the West as well. The republics have to live alongside one another and to trade with one another. In all my talks today I was encouraged that people were aware of the need of the republics to work with each other and with the centre, this need exists in both the political and the economic spheres.

    I have also discussed the question of nuclear weapons in my meetings today, I sought assurances from both President Gorbachev and President Yeltsin that the utmost care would be taken to ensure that nuclear weapons are kept under strict central control and that responsibility is not fragmented. They told me that they both fully endorsed this need. Stable conditions are also essential for the economic reform programme to take root and for a successful transition to a market economy.

    Fifty years ago this week British ships began to bring food into Murmansk at a time of very great need for the Soviet people. Again this winter we may face the need to help the Soviet people through a period of acute difficulty. If necessary we will do so. The current requirements are for immediate assistance with food supplies and distribution but in the longer term there must be a programme of radical economic reform, we have already launched the British Government’s Know-How Fund and encouraged it to launch a major project for the complete reform of the food sector in Kiev.

    The Minister of Agriculture in the United Kingdom will be chairing a meeting this week of those already involved so far, notably the British Food Consortium and of others, particularly companies involved in the distribution and marketing of food on a large scale. We hope that shortly thereafter British experts will travel to the Soviet Union as part of a lifeline team.

    President Gorbachev and Mr Yeltsin have welcomed this initiative, it is one that I discussed with President Bush and I know the United States has similar projects in mind. The European Community has already earmarked 85,000 tons of food for distribution in the Soviet Union this autumn, it also has an extensive programme of food credits and technical assistance in this area. The European Community will be in touch urgently with the Soviet authorities and the republics to ensure that the food reaches those most in need. In particular I shall be urging the Community to look urgently and swiftly at the possibility of financing the purchase of food produced in Eastern Europe for distribution in the Soviet Union, this will be of mutual benefit to the Community, the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

    While food aid is essential and will satisfy immediate needs, the process of economic reform requires more fundamental changes. This will involve liaison with the international monetary fund and other international financial institutions. At the meeting of the G7 summit in July we agreed that the Soviet Union should have special associate status with the International Monetary Fund. We now need to make that a reality and I have urged both President Gorbachev and President Yeltsin to nominate an individual or group who can work with the IMF. As Chairman of the G7, I have been in touch with the Managing Director of the IMF who is keen for this substantial contact to begin as soon as possible. I am confident that progress in this area will be achieved quite quickly. To speed this along I have arranged that Nigel Wicks, the Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, will remain behind tomorrow for official discussions.

    There are welcome signs of progress in other areas. The Foreign Secretary is at this very moment engaged in an historic meeting with the new Head of the KGB. The first sign of these changes was the announcement that Mrs Gordievskya and her family will soon be free to leave the Soviet Union. My wife and I were delighted to meet her this morning and I have asked the Foreign Secretary to press tonight for the necessary formalities to be completed as soon as humanly possible.

    The Soviet Union and the republics face difficult choices, but the future is infinitely brighter than it looked barely two weeks ago when the world awakened to news of the coup. The people of the Soviet Union have chosen the path of freedom and chosen it decisively. That brings enormous responsibilities and opportunities. I feel privileged to come here today as the leader of one democratic country talking to the leaders of a vitally important country which is on its way to becoming the world’s newest democracy. It has been a day that has been most useful and one I believe that will have contributed to greater understanding of what is happening here.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Situation – 26 August 1991

    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.

    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.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Coup (IV) – 22 August 1991

    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.

    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.