Bill Clinton: “I would say there's a little bit of both there. The United States and the other NATO authorities do view Russia with…”

“I would say there's a little bit of both there. The United States and the other NATO authorities do view Russia with good will, not ill will, and we do want and believe Russia should appropriately have a role in the Balkans. But also, I always believed if we were going to get a diplomatic solution here, we had to have Russia's involvement. Keep in mind, before the bombing began, for 14 months we worked closely with the Russians to try to find a diplomatic solution in the Balkans, because we knew that Russia's positive influence would be essential. Then, when it appeared that the diplomatic solution might be possible and could bring an end to the bombing and bring the Kosovars home, President Yeltsin was willing to appoint Mr. Chernomyrdin. He then came to us and made it clear that he would like someone who could represent the rest of Europe in these negotiations, and President Ahtisaari of Finland became his partner. And I believe that the Russian people should be very, very proud of the role, the indispensable role that Russia played in these diplomatic negotiations, and the role of Mr. Chernomyrdin in particular. He and President Ahtisaari did a very, very good job, and it's something that I think is a great credit to Russia and to the people of Russia. G-8 Summit/Financial Aid to Russia Mr. Kiselev. And there's probably now one last topic that I wanted to dwell upon. Today is the last day of the G-8 summit. The Western press usually refers to it as G-7-plus-Russia, even though more than a year ago in Birmingham, Russia was officially admitted, accepted to the club of the world leading nations. Is Russia, in fact, a full-fledged member of the G-8, or is it still early to talk seriously about this because of Russia's economic weakness? And is the U.S. going to pressure the IMF to provide credits to Russia, and is the U.S. going to help Russia's economy apart from IMF?”