(31 Dec 1999) English/Nat
President Bill Clinton has greeted the transition of power in Russia with appreciation for President Boris Yeltsin.
He said the cooperation between the U-S and Russia had been the hallmark of Yeltsin's time in office.
At the same time, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said relations between the two nations were unlikely to be affected by the resignation, despite ongoing disagreements over Russia's war in Chechnya.
President Clinton delayed his participation in his country's millennium celebrations in order to deal with the sudden transition of power in Moscow.
He spent 20 minutes on the phone with acting President Vladimir Putin before paying tribute to Boris Yeltsin and the advances made in cooperation between the two countries.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The relationship between the United States and Russia under President Yeltsin has produced genuine progress for both our people. Five thousand strategic nuclear weapons have been dismantled. Our nuclear weapons are no longer targeted at each other. We have worked together to eliminate nuclear weapons from other states of the former Soviet Union. Russia has withdrawn its troops from the Baltic nations and now its troops are serving alongside Americans to maintain peace in the Balkans. In fact, Russia was instrumental in achieving the peace agreement in Kosovo."
SUPER CAPTION: President Bill Clinton
He added that he had come to have a personal affection and respect for Yeltsin.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I liked him because I think he genuinely deplored Communism. He d with it, he saw it and he believed that democracy was the best system. I think it was in every fibre of his being. We had our arguments, we had our fights, we had our genuine disagreement about our national interests from time to time, but I think that the Russian people were well served to have a leader who honestly believed that their votes ought to determine who was running the show in Russia and what the future direction of the country should be."
SUPER CAPTION: President Bill Clinton
At the State Department, Madeleine Albright told reporters she had been assured by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov that Moscow's foreign policy would not be affected by the transition.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"It should have no impact beyond the fact that we do have a disagreement over Chechnya and that will continue. We have agreement on a whole host of other issues, in terms of how we work together around the world, and to bring it to the point of today, there's very good cooperation on the Y-2-K issues and we've been working closely with them and will continue to do that obviously throughout this period."
SUPER CAPTION: U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Albright echoed President Clinton's personal feelings about Yeltsin's departure by saying she felt a "certain sadness" over his resignation.
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