A transcript of a telephone conversation between Yeltsin and Bush, where Yeltsin, even before the Belovezhsky agreement was made public, jumping out of his pants, informs Bush that he agreed with Kravchuk and Shushkevich to liquidate the USSR.
Transcript of a telephone conversation between Bush and Yeltsin on December 8, 1991.
Bush: - Hello Boris, how are you, sir?
Yeltsin: - Hello, Mr. President, everything is fine with us. Mister President, we agreed that we would inform each other about exceptional events. A very important event took place in our country today, and I would like to inform you personally before you learn about everything from the press.
Bush: - Great, thank you.
Yeltsin: - We have gathered today, Mr. President, together with the leaders of three states - Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. We got together and after a lengthy discussion for two days came to the conclusion that the entire current system and the Union Treaty, to which we are being pushed, do not suit us. Therefore, we agreed and signed an agreement just a few minutes ago. Mr. President, we, the leaders of the three countries - Belarus, Ukraine and Russia - given that the negotiations on the new Union Treaty have reached a dead end, we believe that the formation of independent states has become a fait accompli for objective reasons. It should also be noted that the short-sighted policy of the union center has drawn us into a political and economic crisis - taking into account the interests of the economy and various strata of society - we, the commonwealth of independent states of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia,made an agreement. This 16-point agreement is dedicated to the creation of a commonwealth of a group of independent states. Mr. President, this agreement speaks of the creation of a so-called commonwealth of states, including a clause on openness to other states, including former members of the USSR.
Bush: - I see.
Yeltsin: - Members of the commonwealth pursue the goal of ensuring international peace and security. They also guarantee the fulfillment of international obligations and other agreements signed by the former Union, including external debt. We are also ready for joint control over nuclear weapons and their non-proliferation. This agreement was signed by the heads of three countries - Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.
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Bush: - OK.
Yeltsin: - I am calling in the presence of the presidents of Ukraine and the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus. I also talked with the President of Kazakhstan Nazarbayev. I read him the full text of the agreement, including all 16 articles. He fully supports all our actions and is ready to sign an agreement on his part. He is ready to fly to Minsk and sign it.
Bush: - I see.
Yeltsin: - This is very serious. These 4 states form 90% of the USSR GDP. This is an attempt, a step towards the formation of a commonwealth, but without the control of the common center, which has been in charge of us for the last 70 years. This is a very serious step, and we are confident, we are convinced that this is the only way out of this critical situation that was possible.
Bush: - Boris, you …
Yeltsin: - Mr. President, I must inform you confidentially, President Gorbachev does not know about this. He knows we were going to meet - in fact, I told him that we would meet. Obviously, we will immediately send him the text of our agreement, because he will have to make certain decisions at his level. Mr. President, I am very, very frank with you today. Our four states now see only one way out of the critical situation. We do not want to do anything in secret - we will immediately organize a press conference. We hope for your understanding.
Bush: - Ok, Boris, I appreciate your call and your candor. We will check these 16 articles immediately. How do you expect the center to react?
Yeltsin: - First, I discussed this with Defense Minister Shaposhnikov. I would like to read the sixth chapter of the agreement. In fact, Shaposhnikov fully agreed and supported our position.
I will now read the sixth article:
“The member states of the Commonwealth will cooperate in ensuring international peace and security, implementing effective measures to reduce arms and military spending. They strive for the elimination of all nuclear weapons, general and complete disarmament under strict international control."
Bush: - Aha.
Yeltsin: - "The parties will respect each other's striving to achieve the status of a nuclear-free zone and a neutral state."
Bush: - I see.
Yeltsin: - Please pay attention to the following paragraph, Mr. Pezident (and I ask the translator to translate it as accurately as possible):
“The member states of the Commonwealth will preserve and maintain a common military-strategic space under a joint command, including a single control over nuclear weapons, the implementation of which is regulated by a special agreement. They also jointly guarantee the necessary conditions for the deployment, functioning, material and social security of the strategic armed forces."
Dear George, I am finished. This is very, very important. Due to the established tradition between us, I barely endured ten minutes not to call you.
Bush: - First, I am very grateful to you. Secondly, we will study the 16 articles with great interest as soon as we receive them.
Yeltsin: - I am sending them out immediately.
Bush: We will also report our reaction - we will give you the answer. We are grateful for your exceptional courtesy.
Yeltsin: - I am very glad. This is real, really will stir the press - this is the latest information. To be honest, even Gorbachev does not know yet, although we will inform him right now.
Bush: Thank you again for your special attitude towards the United States. We will work with you and other countries as the situation develops. Of course, we hope that the whole process will be peaceful.
Yeltsin: - Yes, absolutely.
Bush: Please pay my respects to the other presidents and Nazarbayev when you meet him.
Yeltsin: - Mr. President, thank you for your understanding of our position and your support. In our situation, we could not do otherwise.
Bush: - We definitely want to carefully study the issue. We understand that the current situation must be dealt with by the participants, and not by third parties such as the United States.
Yeltsin: - We guarantee it, Mr. President.
Bush: - Okay, good luck, and thank you for your call. We are interested in the reaction of the center and other republics. I think time will tell.
Yeltsin: - I am sure that other republics will understand and join us very soon.
Bush: Thank you again for your call after such a historic event.
Yeltsin: - Goodbye.
Bush: - Goodbye.
Original in English.
