The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Mikhail Gorbachev

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Coup (I) – 21 August 1991

    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.

    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.

  • Mr Major’s Joint Doorstep Interview with Dr Kagalovski – 21 August 1991

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

    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.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the Soviet Situation – 20 August 1991

    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.

    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.

  • Mr Major’s Press Conference on Soviet Situation – 20 August 1991

    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.

    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.

  • Mr Major’s Second Statement on Soviet Union – 19 August 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s second statement, made in Downing Street, on Monday 19th August 1991 on the Soviet Union situation.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, any further developments you can tell us about?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    There isn’t a great deal I can add to what I had to say earlier today. As today has progressed, I think it has become clearer that what we have actually seen in the Soviet Union is a straightforward common-or-garden old-fashioned coup; that is actually what has happened there.

    I have had two conversations today with President Bush and a number of conversations with European leaders in both East and West Europe.

    I think it is very important we coordinate our position, very important that we pool our information over the days and weeks ahead.

    I had a particularly interesting conversation with the Prime Minister of Poland and I think tomorrow at the discussions at the European Community Foreign Ministers’ meetings a number of matters will be raised. I think the question of speeding-up the European Community Cooperation Agreements with Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia will be raised – Douglas Hurd will raise that; he will also raise the question of freezing Community aid to the Soviet Union in precisely the same way that we have frozen our Know-How aid and I think also that we will be very likely to have a European Community Heads of Government meeting some time in the next few days but beyond that there are no fresh events to report.

    QUESTION:

    Have you had any indication at all about the nature of the new regime and are you any less gloomy about the prospects?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, I have had no particularly fresh information about that. It is clearly, as I said earlier, a hard-line and reactionary coup but beyond that we have no details of what is going to happen. I think we are, like everyone else, waiting on events for the time being.

    QUESTION:

    What do you think will be the next most significant event?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I can’t tell you yet. Events may move very swiftly. It is impossible to say. I think we will have to wait and see.

    QUESTION:

    What do you make of the ambassador in this country’s apparent assertion that there are going to be continued reforms and so on in the Soviet Union?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well I hope that is true. We have supported reform in the Soviet Union for many years in the past; we hope we are going to see reform. The future prosperity of the Soviet Union depends upon there being reform. It is in their interest to have reform; it is in the West’s interest to see reform; whether it happens, we must wait and see. The omens at the moment are not propitious.

  • Mr Major’s First Statement of Day on Soviet Union – 19 August 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s first statement, made in Downing Street, on Monday 19th August 1991 on the Soviet Union situation.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Events overnight are clearly a very ominous development indeed. I will be consulting our friends and allies over the next few hours and I would expect to have a meeting of senior colleagues at No. 10 in the middle of the afternoon.

    There seems little doubt that President Gorbachev has been removed from power by an unconstitutional seizure of power. There are constitutional ways of removing the President of the Soviet Union; they have not been used.

    Whatever the future may hold for President Gorbachev, I hope there is no doubt in anyone’s mind about the immense contribution that he has made over recent years both to the prospects for people within the Soviet Union and to the rapprochement that has taken place between East and West as a result of his efforts and those of Presidents Reagan, Bush and others. He has, therefore, a very proud record indeed.

    I believe that the whole world has a very serious stake in the events currently taking place in the Soviet Union; the reform process that is of vital importance to the whole world and of most vital importance of course to the Soviet people themselves and I hope that is fully understood by everyone.

    There is a great deal of information we don’t yet have but I would like to make clear above all that we will expect the Soviet Union to respect and honour all those commitments that President Gorbachev has made on its behalf.

    I hope we will be able to say more later on today. I will take one or two questions but very few.

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, given what you say, do you believe it is too late now to influence events and if it is, who does the West do business with?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    We simply don’t know the answer to that question yes. I hope we will find out more information during the course of the day.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, the G7 Summit offered moral support to Mr. Gorbachev. Do you now feel in retrospect that you should have given him much more, especially hard cash?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, I don’t believe that is the case and neither is that the cause of the present difficulties in the Soviet Union today so far as we can see.

    What we were seeking to do and indeed I was going to Moscow in order to further that later on this year, was to help along the reform progress. What appears to have happened is a strike against the reform process in the Soviet Union.

    QUESTION:

    Mr. Major, do you believe you will still be going to Moscow?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It is too early to say.

    QUESTION:

    Does the international crisis enhance the Conservatives’ election chances?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I have had no chance of contemplating that matter this morning.

    QUESTION:

    Were you forewarned in any way at all?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, we were not forewarned. Of course, the possibility of some action of this sort has been around and has been considered for some considerable time but there was no immediate knowledge that it was going to happen at this particular moment. As background, clearly one realised the possibility of this happening at some stage.

    QUESTION:

    Given the fall in the FT index today, how worried are you about the implications for the British economy?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It is very early stages in terms of the fall in the FT index; we will have to see how it will stabilise. I think there is no reason for people to panic in terms of the international markets, either the exchange markets or the stock exchanges and I hope people won’t.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, will there have to be some reconsideration given to the planned defence cuts?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I see no reason for us to do that. The prospects of events in the Soviet Union were amongst those matters that were considered and considered very carefully in terms of the defence reductions that were made. It is quite wrong for people to suggest, as sometime they have done, that they were Treasury-driven cuts; those changes in our defence posture were made as a result of changing circumstances, changing needs, changing capacity and changing nature of weaponry so there were a whole series of other reasons for making the changes that were in hand.

    QUESTION:

    Do you fear a return to the Cold War, then, Prime Minister? Is that what we are looking at?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I don’t believe that we are in a position to make a firm judgement on that yet; clearly, one would hope not. I don’t think one is going back to the position that existed pre-Mr. Gorbachev but of course it is very early to make any judgements of this sort and although it is perhaps not the answer you would wish, I think we will have to wait and see how events unfold and be a little better informed than we are at the present over what is actually happening. I hope we will know more later on today; if we do, of course we will say so.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the G7 – 19 July 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the G7, made in an interview held in London on Friday 19th July 1991.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked about whether the third world countries had been ignored at the G7 conference].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It is certainly not true, the countries in the world that will most gain from an increase in world trade, the opening access to markets and stability of inflation and growth are Third World countries and then of course, in terms of the very poorest Third World countries there was perhaps the biggest advance we have seen at any G7 meeting ever and that is the agreement to go a long way beyond Toronto terms in writing off the debt of the very poorest countries.

    So I do not agree with that analysis at all and the point about opening market access is absolutely critical to the Third World, there is no point in the industrialised world providing aid to the Third World and then closing their markets to the products of the Third World, that is more damaging than anything else. So I think it was a very good summit for the Third World.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if the Soviets had left the G7 conference empty-handed].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Only those who wanted to say that said that, only those who were pre-programmed to think that, that is not the view of Mr Gorbachev, it is not the view of the Soviet Union and they of course have the principal interest in this. What the Soviet Union wanted was to establish a continuing dialogue with the Group of Seven, that is what we have established. It was literally an historic meeting with President Gorbachev the other day and for the first time there is to be a direct dialogue between the G7, the seven most powerful industrial nations in the world, and the Soviet Union. Now I think that is good for the Soviet Union, I think it is good for the G7 and I actually think for wider political reasons it is very good for everybody else as well. It is the sort of dialogue between the major powers in the world that the rest of the world has asked to see for a long time.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if that would improve the short-term situation in the Soviet Union].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The short-term crisis in the Soviet Union is a crisis that will be solved within the Soviet Union. What we have said is that we can enhance technical co-operation, we are going to enhance technical co-operation. I announced a very considerable enhancement, a doubling in fact, of our own Know-How Fund just yesterday, the day after President Gorbachev came here. And on wider matters it is prudent, most people think, to discuss these matters and to determine what needs to be done and that is what we are doing.

  • Mr Major’s Commons Statement on the Group of Seven – 19 July 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s statement in the House of Commons on the Group of Seven meeting, given on 19th July 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : With permission, Mr. Speaker, I will make a statement on the economic summit held in London from 15 to 17 July, and the subsequent meeting with President Gorbachev. I was accompanied at the summit by my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The economic declaration and the separate political declarations issued at the summit have been placed in the Library of the House.

    The themes of this summit were “Building World Partnership” and “Strengthening the International Order”. Our common aim was to build on the movement towards freedom, democracy and the open economy which was the theme at last year’s Houston summit. I believe that we achieved valuable and productive results. In the political discussion, there was full support for our proposal for a United Nations register of arms sales. We agreed to consult on the guidelines that apply to conventional arms sales, and we agreed on restraint in the transfer of advanced technology weapons. We agreed also that donor countries should take account of military expenditure when deciding on aid programmes. We also agreed a number of steps in preventing the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. We agreed that we should make preventive diplomacy a top priority in the United Nations. We proposed the establishment of a United Nations disaster relief co-ordinator so that the United Nations can in future take the early action that has sometimes been missing in the past.

    We agreed also on the need for confidence-building measures by both sides in the Arab-Israel dispute, including the suspension of the Arab boycott and of the Israeli policy of settlement in the occupied territories. We encouraged South Africa to pursue policies that will permit normal access to all sources of foreign borrowing. That is vital to enable the economic growth that will be necessary for a successful conclusion to the political negotiations.

    In our debate on the world economy, we recognised increasing signs of economic recovery. These are welcome, but require us to maintain policies aimed at sustained recovery and price stability. This means prudent and vigilant fiscal and monetary policies, to bear down on inflation.

    All the summit leaders recognised that the world cannot afford a failure in the Uruguay round of trade negotiations. We committed ourselves to completing the round by the end of this year. Crucially, we committed ourselves to remain personally involved to ensure that that happens to resolve any disputes. Action will be needed on services, intellectual property, trade access and agriculture. We reaffirmed our commitment to support reform in the countries of central and eastern Europe. For them, trade access is vital. We cannot encourage them to build market economies and then deny them a marketplace in which to sell their goods. The European Community has led the way in offering access through the association agreements which are now being negotiated.

    We devoted a lot of time to the problems of developing countries and secured agreement on the need for additional debt relief measures for the poorest, most indebted countries, going well beyond the Toronto terms agreed in 1988. I have been pressing for this since I launched the Trinidad initiative as Chancellor.

    At the summit, we committed ourselves to work for a successful United Nations conference on environment and development in June next year. By the time of the conference, we aim to have achieved, in particular, a framework convention on climate change and agreement on principles for forest conservation. We also hope to negotiate by the end of next year a framework convention on bio-diversity. We agreed also to support financially the implementation of the preliminary steps of a pilot programme for the conservation of the Brazilian rain forests.
    Earlier summits have stimulated effective action in tackling the trade in illicit drugs. This year, we asked the Customs Co-operation Council–on the basis of an initiative by the United Kingdom–to intensify its work and liaise with international traders and carriers to curb the spread of drugs.

    These global issues require the involvement of all. Developing countries and east European nations are playing an increasingly active part. But one great country has been until now largely detached from the international economic system. That is the Soviet Union. We had a productive, substantial session with President Gorbachev. It was an historic occasion. The emphasis was on informal, frank and direct discussions.

    We reached agreement on six specific points. The first was special association with the International Monetary Fund and the World bank. Both the fund and the bank have a wealth of experience in helping Governments to work out their own economic reform programmes, especially in the crucial areas of fiscal, monetary and structural policies.

    Secondly, the international institutions–the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development–as well as the IMF and the World bank–are to be asked to work closely together in their support of the Soviet Union. They can provide the Soviet Union with practical advice, know-how and expertise to help create a market economy.

    The third point was intensified technical assistance. We believe that there should be greater co-operation in the following sectors in particular: energy, defence conversion, food distribution, nuclear safety and transport. Yesterday, I announced an increase in Britain’s know-how fund assistance from £20 million to £50 million.

    The fourth point was improved trade access to markets for Soviet goods and services. This would also help to attract more inward private investment.

    Fifthly, it was agreed that, as chairman of the summit, I should, on behalf of summit colleagues, follow up our meeting and visit Moscow before the end of the year to review progress. I look forward to doing so.

    Sixthly, we agreed, in response to President Gorbachev’s invitation, that Ministers of Finance and of Small Business should go to Moscow for discussions with their Soviet counterparts. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor hopes to do so soon.

    This was a landmark meeting with President Gorbachev. It will, I believe, be seen as a first step towards helping the Soviet Union to become a full member of the world economic community. I believe that it was a successful summit, and I commend the outcome to the House.

  • Mr Major’s Statement in Downing Street – 18 July 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s statement given in London on Thursday 18th July 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Mr President, Mrs Gorbachev, colleagues and friends from the Soviet Union, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to luncheon today at Downing Street.

    We have a long tradition in London of welcoming the leaders of revolutions. Today I believe we have the enormous privilege of welcoming a man who has led one of the most remarkable revolutions of our century, and you are, Sir, immensely welcome.

    We take a great deal for granted. We have now come to take for granted freedom in Eastern Europe: we have come to take for granted German reunification: we have taken in our stride the demilitarisation of the Warsaw Pact; we have got used to talking of the Soviet Union as a friend and not as an opponent. And if may say so, since I see him here today, in Ambassador Zamyatin we have come to know a very true friend during his period in the United Kingdom.

    The events of the last few years have shown triumphs of the human spirit, they owed much to the pressure for change from within the Soviet Union and from outside the Soviet Union. But I believe that there was more to it than that. There are occasionally in our history, in our world, not just our domestic history, individuals who shaped the course of that history and you, Mr President, are one of them. You have had in recent years the wisdom and the vision to see the trend of events, you have had the enormous courage to defy the traditions and dogma of half a century and you have had the political skill, the political determination and the courage to carry that vision into reality.

    May I say, Mr President, also because I am delighted to see her here as a guest this afternoon, that my predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, has many of those same characteristics and I believe that the joint relationship that you and she struck up in the early 1980s played an immensely important part in the rapprochement between East and West over recent years and I believe history will record that fact very clearly indeed.

    I believe it is very hard to over-estimate the transformation that this change in relationships has brought about to world affairs. Just about a decade ago every international issue was a battleground of ideology. The watchword those days seemed to be problem making and not necessarily problem solving. And yet as a result of these changes we have seen in the last few years, the position is dramatically transformed. In the Middle East, in Southern Africa, elsewhere we are enjoying a whole new experience of cooperation between East and West at solving problems and not creating them.

    Perhaps in recent years the classic illustration of this was Iraq, an illustration of cooperation in the interests of safeguarding the communal peace. The Permanent Five members of the Security Council now work together as partners, it is I believe a most effective partnership and we hope it will be the driving force behind the regeneration of the United Nations in the years before us.

    That transformation, Mr President, was reflected clearly and unmistakably in the meeting which you had yesterday with leaders of the Group of Seven, a meeting foreshadowed by my predecessor in her remarkable speech at Aspen last year. And last night we here in the very next room around the table here in Downing Street to talk about world issues.

    People perhaps expect that. What, had they been present, they would not have expected quite so much was the immense extent to which the leaders there knew one another and enjoyed themselves as they discussed matters that were of both national and international importance. And I believe that closeness of personal relationship is a matter that can make more people sleep comfortably in their beds than would have been the case many years ago.

    We recognise. Mr President, we present who are the well-wishers of the Soviet Union, we recognise that your country faces formidable challenges. formidable political challenges and equally formidable economic challenges and the vastness of the task before you makes it difficult for us to know precisely where best we can give our help. But I believe there is a common determination to help, not just in this country where I can promise you that determination is very real, but amongst all of us in the G7. And to do so not just in terms of words but in practical ways, through technical assistance, through links between the Soviet Union, the IMF, the OECD, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Sank itself,

    We recognise there is no magic prescription either within the Soviet Union or beyond the Soviet Union. But there is I think a world of difference in attitude, a world of difference between polite, dispassionate applause and the aggressive engagement of countries throughout the world who see themselves as we do, as friends of the Soviet Union committed to the success of the reforms in the Soviet Union.

    And that partnership, that new and growing partnership characterises our bilateral relationships as well. Many of my guests here today, Mr President, are very closely involved in British cooperation with the Soviet Union, cooperation which can only grow as we wish to see it grow as a result of the processes of reform. Given the right environment, British companies will be keen to increase their investment, keen to help mobilise your country’s great reservoir of human skills and natural resources and you and many others in authority throughout the Soviet Union are I know striving even now to create precisely that environment.

    The people in this room and millions I believe beyond it, Mr President, want to take part in your transformation to a market economy. I believe a lot of our own experience will be relevant to you as well, so we are helping in that transformation, in projects like food distribution, energy, financial services and the creation of small businesses. And British companies, I am delighted to say, are directly involved and the presence here of many of our leaders of commerce and industry illustrates that point very clearly. For this is a partnership in perestroika, a partnership from which both of us and both our countries have a great deal to gain.

    No-one here has any illusions, a hard road lies ahead for the Soviet Union. Democracy, as Winston Churchill once memorably said, is the worst form of government except For all the forms we have tried in our history. You, Mr President, know that the Soviet Union has tried other forms and has found them wanting. And you, Mr President, had the courage to recognise that and to recognise the hardship and injustice which other nations had incurred as a result of that.

    In today’s world the fates of East and West, of North and South cannot be divorced, they are bound together inextricably in the decisions that are made by the great nations. Yesterday in London we showed that that was understood fully in the West as well, in the meeting that you had with the leaders of the Group of Seven. It is my belief that that meeting marks a new chapter in Soviet relations with the industrialised Western world.

    Today in London we are forging a further link in that relationship , a further link in the chain of Anglo-Soviet friendship and cooperation in the future. I believe it is a link that will be immensely warmly welcomed in this country and I have no doubt from what you have had to say to me this morning, immensely warmly welcomed throughout the Soviet Union as well.

    My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have some very welcome guests here today, may I ask you to rise and drink to President Gorbachev and to Mrs Gorbachev, to the people of the Soviet Union and to friendship and partnership between our two great countries. The President and Mrs Gorbachev.

  • Mr Major’s Joint Statements with President Gorbachev – 18 July 1991

    Below is Mr Major’s statement made on Thursday 18th July 1991 with the Russian President, President Gorbachev.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Good afternoon! We have had a series of discussions today. The President and I had the opportunity of around two hours discussion before luncheon, further discussion through luncheon and with a large number of people from business, commerce and industry attending luncheon as well and after luncheon, we have had the opportunity of a Plenary Session with our Finance and Economic Ministers, our Employment Ministers and our Foreign Ministers as well, so it has been a very productive and worthwhile series of exchanges.

    In our discussions today, apart from a range of bilateral matters, we have also discussed how we carry forward the Group of 7 remit and discussed some of the ground rules for my forthcoming visit to Moscow some time this side of Christmas. We have also agreed, in order to carry this debate forward, that Norman Lamont, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will visit Moscow very speedily indeed. Dates are not yet finalised but I hope that the Chancellor will be able to go before the end of July to spend some time in the Soviet Union and to carry these discussions forward.

    I should add also that a very senior mission from the Department of Employment will in fact be leaving for the Soviet Union this Sunday in order to examine small business and other business opportunities that exist between the two countries.

    I also took the opportunity this morning in my discussions with President Gorbachev of announcing that we will be extending and increasing the Know-How Fund that exists to encourage small and growing enterprises in the Soviet Union. We will be increasing the time-scale of the Fund initially from two years to three years and doubling the size of the Fund to make a further small contribution towards assisting the establishment of a private sector and a liberal market economy in the Soviet Union.

    Both the President and I saw these discussions as but the beginning of a continuing dialogue. We examined some very practical and very pragmatic ways forward and if I may speak for myself, I found them extremely useful discussions and I look forward to resuming them in Moscow later this year.

    I will now invite the President to say whatever he would wish!

    PRESIDENT GORBACHEV:

    My task has been made easier by the fact that the Prime Minister covered the most important things.

    I wish to add that we lost no time and at the beginning of our morning session we gave some thought to what we should do next so that there is practical continuation of the agreement that was reached yesterday at the G7 meeting.

    The British-Soviet dialogue has a merit on its own and we are fully aware of the contribution that the British-Soviet dialogue that has been intensifying over the past few years made to the creation of the atmosphere that we witnessed these past few days and now I see that this dialogue will receive another no less important dimension given the fact that Mr. Major was instructed by the G7 to act in another capacity – not in another paid position but in another capacity. This is a new capacity which requires a lot of imagination and a lot of innovative approach to problems because what we are doing now is laying down bricks in the foundation of future cooperation.

    We sensibly discussed all these matters with the Prime Minister and when we had the Plenary Session attended by our Ministers we were very pleased to note that our Ministers covered the same subjects so we have received a signal from the Seven and we started moving along and this is something that I welcome very much.

    These past few days in the framework of the G7 meeting and also in the framework of the bilateral meeting we have seen a great desire on the part of the British side to provide a propitious atmosphere for our contacts and also to provide appropriate ground for our future joint work. I wish to thank the Prime Minister and his colleagues for a very active involvement in all that effort.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Mr. President, thank you very much. I am afraid the President and I are due in the House of Commons in just four minutes so I will take just two questions if I may.

    QUESTION:

    [In Russian, not interpreted]

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The answer to that question is that Soviet-British relations are very good and they are getting better.

    PRESIDENT GORBACHEV:

    I may add that the business communities of our two countries have many projects lined up and the scope of our cooperation is likely to grow and intensify very fast. What we need is removal of the remaining impediments in the way of that cooperation. Any restrictions of the COCEM (phon) type restrictions does not allow us to use new technology projects that are being offered and of course no-one would be content with some outdated old-type projects.

    QUESTION:

    Why do you think Fidel Castro can continue to survive without implementing democratic reforms such as perestroika and glasnost and why does the USSR continue to aid Castro when he has openly criticised you and the countries from Eastern Europe for deviating from Communist teachings?

    PRESIDENT GORBACHEV:

    You know, I would do a lot of stupid things really if I were to sever relations with countries whose leaders criticised me and those stupid things that I would do would apply not only to international affairs but also to the domestic situation in my country so I would rather not do it.

    My second point is that you must show respect for the Cuban people. I think the Cuban people deserve that and it is for the Cuban people to choose freely and to decide whatever questions they may face.