- - ' ' -- -- 1343 ECRE'P - L THE WHITE HOUSE WASH I NGTO N MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT PARTICIPANTS DATE TIME AND PLACE Telcon with Chancellor Kohl of Germany U The President James A Baker Secretary of State Helmut Kohl Chancellor Notetaker Robert Hutchings NSC Staff Interpreter Gisela Marcuse February 23 1991 1 28 - 1 41 p m Camp David secretary Baker Chancellor how are you This is Jim Baker U Chancellor Kohl Good Jim How are you U Secretary Baker The President is right here talking to John Major He will be through in just a m9ment but asked me to receive your call U Chancellor Kohl I talked with Gorbachev earlier I got the latest press statement to the effect that Saddam Hussein has accepted the conditions Is that correct ¢ SecretarY Baker No Gorbachev talked to President Bush two hours ago The press statement was erroneous There has been no acceptance by Iraq of the coalition's plan We have made it clear that the Soviet plan does not include acceptance of all the UN resolutions The President is off the phone now vn The President Helmut Wie aeht's U Chancellor Kohl Good thanks I am glad to hear your voice Mikhail Gorbachev called earlier after he had talked to you He said he had a good talk with you in a good atmosphere but that you had no agreement How do you assess the situation at this point $ The President He is right on his assessment of the call My view is that the Soviets are not being tricky They are trying to stop the war and playa constructive role Chancellor Kohl That is my view too U gCRE1 - Declassifv on OADR DECu SSIFIED PER EmO 12958 ASA AENDED dJ 6 2 II zroct _ ' _r z The President But I told him that we could not delay First I don't trust Saddam Hussein Second with his scorched earth policy he is laying waste to Kuwait Third he is trying to delay he didn't meet the ultimatum So I told Gorbachev that makes it impossible to do anything other than make him leave Kuwait We are going through with our military planning and I will have an important statement on that subject tonight at 10 00 But I don't see any way to avert going forward Gorbachev wanted us to go to the UN Their people are being cooperative not contentious j Chancellor Kohl One of the important issues for me is if Saddam Hussein is being honest why does he need 21 days to withdraw I- The President Right Also there are other UN conditions such as reparations paying for damages And he is not in a position to bargain though maybe he thinks he is There are terrible stories even today that they are brutalizing the citizens of Kuwait So anyway maybe he will come to his senses and start moving out but we seen no evidence of that Chancellor Kohl George I feel it is very very important that G Jrbachev knows that you appreciate what he is doing Th8 President I think he knows that I have told him over and over again Not only that I have told him that he will have a lace in the region after the conflict is over He wants to consider his country as a great power with interests in the region and he wants to be take seriously I have told him we fee 1 the same way I CElr ce 1 lor Kohl I think it important that he continue to be reg3 rded as an ally in this effort he President I agree People here are coming at me from the right and the left saying that I am being too kind to Gorbachev but I am going to continue treating him with respE ct Chancellor Kohl They don't know what they are talking about Your course is absolutely correct and will pay off Th President I think so Our discussions have been very civilized In the talks Jim Baker has had with Bessmertnykh the tone also has been very good Major said the same about his talks with Gorbachev -- that the tone and atmosphere were very ' ood 7 Chancellor Kohl Yes tal ed to me just now ve- j important He confirmed that explicitly when he Leaving everything else aside that is SECRET 3 The President My view is that the ground war will not be long I am absolutely convinced of that I am deeply concerned about the loss of life It weighs on me every single minute But to fall short of our stated goals would destroy the international credibility of many many countries Chancellor Kohl That's true U The President So there we are at a very difficult period in history I hope that afterwards we can all work together for a eaceful Middle East and as you said for a constructive and cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union ut Chancellor Kohl Yes That's good George all the best then U The President Thanks very much my friend for your support and kind words U -- End of Conversation -- 5ECS E'f