Bill Clinton: “Ladies and gentlemen, after about 2 days of solid meetings, President Yeltsin and I are talked out. [Laughter] But we're…”

“Ladies and gentlemen, after about 2 days of solid meetings, President Yeltsin and I are talked out. [Laughter] But we're delighted to see you. We just came from our joint press conference where President Yeltsin listed about 40 things, or maybe 50, that we discussed. I never thought I would see anyone exhaust the American press corps, but he did it. [Laughter] So then I got up to answer the first question, and I said, before any questions, I want you to know our positions on items 13, 27, and 32. [Laughter] Ladies and gentlemen, when I became President, I was absolutely convinced our country had to redefine the role of its National Government as we move toward the 21st century and that one of the things we had to do is to move away from the extreme views of Government as a savior for all the problems of society on the one hand or Government as sort of sitting on the sidelines while history goes by on the other. It was obvious to me that we needed a new idea of partnerships between our National Government--partnerships with other countries, partnerships with the business community, partnerships with all ordinary Americans as they seek to fulfill their dreams and their abilities. This meeting represents two of those partnerships. I want to thank the Vice President for the work he has done with Prime Minister Chernomyrdin in cementing our partnership with Russia on an economic basis and on a scientific basis.…”