George H.W. Bush: “It's a very hard problem they face. Just yesterday we saw a major reform, which is a viable election system. And then…”

“It's a very hard problem they face. Just yesterday we saw a major reform, which is a viable election system. And then you've got certain economic reforms that we're talking to them about in terms of agriculture distribution. But the problem is so immense that it takes some time. But if the question is, do they want a reform, certainly Gorbachev, certainly Yeltsin. I think the answer is yes. They've got an enormously complex situation. In a country that big moving from a solid state-controlled system to a market economy is not easy. They've got horrendous problems there. But the reforms have got to be detailed a bit more before blank checks are written, and even then it would be difficult. The U.S. is--we're not rolling in cash. We've got big deficits; we've got enormous problems ourselves. And my first interest is the American people.”