Bill Clinton: “I'm just trying to do it an inch at a time. [Laughter] Let me say that's a very important question because of the…”

“I'm just trying to do it an inch at a time. [Laughter] Let me say that's a very important question because of the reports of the meeting. I have talked at some length with President Yeltsin about this matter. This is a difficult thing for the Russians because they have long had--going back decades--a relationship with the nation of Iraq that long predates Saddam Hussein. The Russians agree with us that they are not in compliance with the United Nations resolutions. They agree with us that they must let the inspectors go back to work, do their job, open the sites. They want a diplomatic solution; I want a diplomatic solution. I have bent over backwards for months now to try to achieve a diplomatic solution. I am still working with the Russians, the French, the United Nations, anybody, to try to find a diplomatic solution. The difference here is that I simply do not believe it is acceptable to permit Iraq to walk away from its obligations, because what we want to do is to significantly diminish the capacity of the Iraqis to reconstitute, to develop, to deploy their weapons of mass destruction, and to threaten their neighbors. That is the difference. We don't believe it is acceptable, if diplomacy fails, to walk away. And our relationship with Russia is very important to us. My relationship with President Yeltsin has been very productive, and I believe we have advanced the cause of world peace in substantial ways and advanced our future partnership. But I don't think you can have a United Nations set of resolutions about something this important to the future of the world and simply walk away if diplomacy fails. And so, that's the rub. But we're going to keep working with the Russians and with everybody else. We're trying to find a diplomatic solution. And I hope that whatever happens, that our relationships with Russia will continue to be productive and constructive and strong because that's very important to the future of our people.”