Bill Clinton: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have received a rather extended briefing on what we know about what is going on in Russia, and I…”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have received a rather extended briefing on what we know about what is going on in Russia, and I want to make a couple of comments about it. First of all, it is clear that the violence was perpetrated by the Rutskoy-Khasbulatov forces, that there has been significant violence today in Moscow. It is also clear that President Yeltsin bent over backwards to avoid the use of force, to avoid excessive force from the beginning of this, and I still am convinced that the United States must support President Yeltsin and the process of bringing about free and fair elections. We cannot afford to be in the position of wavering at this moment or of backing off or giving any encouragement to people who clearly want to derail the election process and are not committed to reform in Russia. So we are following events moment by moment. As you know, we have access to television coverage there so you are also pretty current on it. But that is the most I know now, and that is our position.”