Bill Clinton: “Well, first of all, I don't think that it would serve any useful purposes for me to try to interpret the Russian…”

“Well, first of all, I don't think that it would serve any useful purposes for me to try to interpret the Russian constitution right now and what it does or doesn't mean or what we would or wouldn't respond to. The United States supports democracy and economic reform in Russia. Now, in terms of whether we're putting too much reliance on Yeltsin personally, my answer to that is, we will work with what we have to work with, whatever happens. But I think we should support him because he has been elected, after all. I mean, there was an election; the people voted for him. And he represents a passionate commitment to democracy and eco- nomic reform. And he's gotten, frankly, in my judgment, from the major countries of the world who have a stake, not just a political but an economic stake in Russia, an inadequate response to date. So I'm trying to do what I can to muster the support to do more, because I think it's very much in America's interests, and he's the person that I think I should work with. He is the elected President of Russia. That is a fact. And I hope he will continue to be the elected President of Russia. But the United States has an interest in a Russia that is not hostile to us, that is not a military enemy, and that, frankly, has a whole lot more economic growth than the Russia that we know does now. And I'm just trying to respond to that. I think that working with him is the best way to do it at this time, and I believe-- I'll say again--no one knows what's going to happen. But the man is an honest democrat--small ``d''--and he's passionately committed to reform. And I want to keep working with him. Defense Conversion”