9338 CONriDENTIM THE WHITE HOUSE WASH INGTON MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT TelconwithRussian President BorisYelstin PARTICIPANTS The President Russian President Yeltsin NOTETAKERS Jenny McGee RobertFord Joel Ehrendreich and Sean Tarver DATE TIME AND PLACE December 31 1999 09 02­09 22 p m EST Oval Office The President Boris U President Yeltsin Hello Bill How do you do Bill U The President I'm fine I just wanted to call you today I know this has been a tough but courageousdecision I just wanted to say I read your statementthis morning I'msad but I am veryproud of you You have guidedyour country througha historic time and you are leaving a legacythatwill leave Russiansbetter offforyears to come I want you to know that we will work withPutinand the Russianpeopleas theymake their choiceforthe next democratically elected president and you can be proud thatyou createda constitution thatworks and thatit continues to guide thistransfer today I know thatthe democratic changes you ledmade it possible for Russia to be integrated intothe international community I was veryproud when Russia joined the G­8 and I am proud of the work we did on arms control and otherissues I know we didn't finish everything we wanted to do on arms control but we set the frameworkat Cologne and I will continue to work withPutinon these objectives Jt Boris I believe thathistorians will say you were the father of Russiandemocracy and thatyou worked to make the worlda safer place and I wanted you to know thatHillary and I are thinking of you and Naina Thank you verymuch forall the timeswe have spent together and all the work we have done together President Yeltsin Thank you Bill forthe very kindwords for the sincerity thatyou expressedto me now Of course this was not an easy decision forme and you as no one else can CONFIDENT PAL Classified by RobertA Bradtke Reason 1 5d Declassify on 12 31 09 DECLASSIFIED PERE 0 13526 cis-o-nx- n-% 3 13 K6k understand that But I want to supportPutin100 percentand now I've givenhim threemonths threemonths according to the constitution to work as president and peoplewill get used to him forthese threemonths I am sure thathe will be elected in the forthcoming elections I am sure about that I am alsosure thathe is a democrat and thathe is a personwitha big soul and thathe is very strongand very intelligent and on many occasions I had a chance to know thatmyself Togetherwithyou we did a lotto strengthen Russian­American cooperation Thanks to our interaction our personalefforts and our contacts we managed to overcome emergingproblems Of course I will help Putinwitheverything in all areas Of course he needs international experience He needs international contacts and I will of course help him with that I will go withhim I will fly on board the plane I will meet withyou and him in orderto transfer the viewpoint of Russia on different questions And of course this will be done without breaking away from democracy from pursuit of a market economy from everything we managed to agree withyou on which includes the reduction of armaments and the issueof chemical weapons Of course it is not very easy and you understandit verywell Particularly I have always been criticized thatI am justtrying to keep a gripon power This proves thatI have not justtried forpower Ifit isnecessaryforRussia if it is necessaryfor democracy I am able to sacrifice thishalfa year of presidential rule And of course I will make use of what you just told me and if I find myselfinAmerica I will drop by at your placeand together we will be able to remember all thatwe managed to achievetogether and we can discussthose questions of mutual interest to us And I want to tell you Bill thaton the seventh I will leave forBethlehemin orderto celebrate the bicentennial of Christianity and this will alsobe a very important event Duringthis period formally I will not be president but I will be recognized as president and I will tryto put on the table somethingto make a contribution to the settlement in the Middle East I am very glad I was your friend and I will continue to be your friend I am very glad thatHillary and Niana had a very good relationship I think thatit shouldbe continued 1­ T The President It will be continued U President Yeltsin But as forthe rest the President is President and he is supposed to performhisduties Putinis a strongperson and he will be able to cope withthe taskhe has And thatwas what I wanted to tell you and thank you verymuch Bill Thank you forthistelephonecall which you made by your own initiative I appreciate it verymuch Bill And I think thatRussia shouldenterthe third millennium withnew politicians who are intelligent and strong dynamic people It is so and it will be like that And Bill I would like to congratulate you and Hillary on the New Year and expressmy gratitude to you thatyou wished thishappy New Year to Naina and myself Thank you verymuch The President Thank you Boris U President Yeltsin And I embrace you cordially You should believe me it was done forRussia forthe sake of Russia for itsfuture I would like from the bottomof my heartto embrace you I want you to continue the celebration of Christmasand the New Year because the New Year will come to our countryin a few hours Allthe best to you Bill I embrace you most cordially and I hope we will meet each otherin the not too distant future Okay Bill The President Thank you Boris Itis good to hear you soundingso strongand chipperand brave as always I can't waitto see you and I promiseto be a good partner withPutin President Yeltsin That is very good and very important That iswhat I had inmind The President Great Good bye Boris Happy New Year U President Yeltsin Okay Bill Good bye U End of Conversation This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu Read related article Putin Clinton and Presidential Transitions 2020-11-02