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Paris -- Presidential spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters May 27 that President Clinton would "seek further clarification" from President Yeltsin about the meaning of a statement he made just after signing the NATO-Russia Founding Act.

According to a transcript of Yeltsin's translated remarks, the Russian president said, "Everything that is aimed at countries present here (the 16 NATO nations), all of those weapons are going to have their warheads removed."

The precise meaning of Yeltsin's statement is far from clear, however. According to McCurry, the Russian presidential spokesman has suggested Yeltsin may have meant to refer to "some aspects of detargeting" and not actually removing warheads.

"We still are not precisely sure what that clarification means," McCurry said of the Russian spokesman's comments. "We'll just have to seek further clarification on what President Yeltsin might mean."

While Russian and U.S. nuclear weapons are no longer targeted directly at each other, both retain significant nuclear arsenals. The Strategic Arms Reduction (START) Treaty has reduced the number of such weapons dramatically. A second START treaty, which envisions further reductions in nuclear warheads, has been ratified by the U.S. Senate, but the Russian Duma has yet to follow suit.

Clinton and Yeltsin are scheduled to meet later today and are expected to discuss Bosnia and the upcoming Summit of 8 meeting in Denver to which Yeltsin has been invited. In addition, McCurry noted, "the President will again press upon President Yeltsin the importance of Duma ratification of START II."

McCurry also commented briefly on President Clinton's bilateral meeting with French President Chirac earlier in the day. Their discussions focused on NATO and preparations for the Madrid Conference at which the Alliance is expected to take on new members from Central and Eastern Europe.

Following is transcript of McCurry's remarks:

(Begin transcript)

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (Paris, France) May 27, 1997

PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY Talleyrand Hotel Paris, France

MR. MCCURRY: I will start with the answer to a question a number of you have posed, which is, President Yeltsin's impromptu reference to removing warheads. We are not exactly sure what he meant by that. Apparently, the Russian presidential press spokesman has indicated now that he was making a reference to additional detargeting that the Russian Federation might undertake with respect to non-nuclear members of NATO. We still are not precisely sure what that clarification means, so I -- we'll have an opportunity later today to ask President Yeltsin directly and ascertain more fully what that statement means.

Q: What's the status quo as far as targeting?

MR. MCCURRY: The status quo is they're are no, as you've heard the President say often, no Russian missiles pointed at the United States and no U.S. missiles pointed at Russia. And there are some aspects of detargeting that affect the nuclear forces of the U.K. and France, but beyond that I'm not aware of any more expansive detargeting doctra that the Russian Federation has adopted. And we'll just have to seek further clarification on what President Yeltsin might mean.

Q: Are you saying it's your understanding that it only applied to the non-nuclear nations?

MR. MCCURRY: Both the U.K. and France have had some discussions with respect to targeting with the Russian Federation. You can ask from each of their sides more about aspects of what understandings they have in place.

Q: Yes, but what's your understanding of what the Russian people are saying about Yeltsin's comments today, that it only applies to non-nuclear or all NATO --

MR. MCCURRY: Well, the only thing we have is just news -- wire reports indicating that the presidential press spokesman has indicated that President Yeltsin was referring to detargeting -- detargeting.

Q: Well, if that winds up being all that it is, and that he's not talking about the removal of warheads, what's the U.S. take on the significance of his announcement?

MR. MCCURRY: Well, it is still, nonetheless, positive. We've always taken the view with respect to our own detargeting agreement with the Russian Federation that it is important among other reasons because it ensures greater security in moments of crisis not to have warheads targeted. It's widely acknowledged that warheads can be fairly quickly and fairly easily retargeted; but it is a confidence-building measure to have these missiles non-targeted or detargeted in their ready posture.

Q: But, Mike, would you say that it's your understanding that Russia currently has missiles that are targeted, or that you are not sure whether they have --

MR. MCCURRY: With respect to the strategic rocket forces of the Russian army, aside from the understandings we have with them bilaterally on targeting, we'd have to leave it to them to describe what their deployed state of targeting is.

Q: Mike, doesn't it seem to be aimed mostly at prospective new members of NATO? In other words, it seems like they're setting up a strong --

MR. MCCURRY: It's not entirely clear, which is one of the reasons why we will seek further clarification.

Q: Mike, I'm just trying to clarify something that Sandy said earlier. So are you taking back his comment earlier that taking the warheads off these missiles would be a much bigger step for the Russians?

MR. MCCURRY: No, that was -- he was hypothetically saying that would be a much bigger step, and obviously that's true. But there's some indication now from the Russian side that may not have been what President Yeltsin meant.

Q: Mike, you all had no clue that he was going to say anything, whether it's targeting or warheads --

MR. MCCURRY: It seemed a fairly impromptu remark.

Q: When you get clarification, will you put something out?

MR. MCCURRY: Well, we will have an opportunity to talk with President Yeltsin later today and my suspicion is by the time the two Presidents meet we may have already had some discussions with them. Now, we will, in some fashion or another, be in a position to give you readout on that discussion before we leave for The Hague. We'll probably have to do it by remote control from over at the residence by phoning something in here, but we'll be able to pass on anything we get.

Q: To the pool as well, right?

MR. MCCURRY: The pool, yes, we can have the pool there.

Q: But is it your understanding that what Yeltsin said actually there was that he would remove warheads --

MR. MCCURRY: The Russian -- I've heard -- I didn't hear the Russian myself, but there are some -- some of our Russian speakers don't believe he used either the word in Russian that we use for detargeting or deactivation. Deactivation is what we normally use as the word to describe removal of warheads. And he apparently used in Russian something that is neither of those two, but we're trying to get that sorted out now.

Q: What is the U.S. position, Mike? Would the U.S. support removing warheads? And would the U.S. --

MR. MCCURRY: The United States is involved in a very deliberate, careful and prudent arms control process with the Russian Federation that right now rests on ratification of START II by the Russian Parliament, moving on to the parameters of a START III agreement. And that has made the world a safer place, and we will continue on that course.

Q: So there would be no reciprocation even if he did mean removal of warheads?

MR. MCCURRY: Well, we first need to find out what exactly he meant, and then we'll find out whether we reciprocate or discuss or illuminate further. All right, let me do a little bit on -- the President, when he arrived at Elysee Palace had a half hour bilateral meeting with French President Jacques Chirac. Most of the discussion was about the subject matter that we're dealing with today -- the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the preparations for the Madrid conference in July. They had a fairly lengthy discussion about Bosnia, the status of NATO-Russia cooperation in Bosnia. They discussed the Middle East, the Middle East peace process specifically, some other regional security issues. The President personally thanked President Chirac for not only the leadership he has shown in hosting today's gathering, but also specifically for the moral leadership that President Chirac has extended on the subject of Bosnia.

Q: French elections?

MR. MCCURRY: The subject of French elections did not come up.

Q: Did they talk about Iran and the election and the possibility of some kind of Western overture to the new --

MR. MCCURRY: They talked in general about regional security issues and the subject of Iran was touched upon.

Q: Did they discuss the possibility of using NATO troops to track down war criminals in Bosnia?

MR. MCCURRY: They discussed Bosnia generally. I'm not going to describe the conversation more specifically than that.

Q: Back on the impromptu remarks. What does it say about Yeltsin's state of mind to make a statement like this? It catches you off-guard, it catches people off-guard in his own country, it catches the rest of the leaders off-guard. Why come out and off the cuff --

MR. MCCURRY: President Yeltsin is known to speak his mind at moments like this, and I'd say there's nothing out of the ordinary about that. (Laughter.)

Q: That was what he was discussing with Chirac? Before the break there was this long back and forth --

MR. MCCURRY: Well, we don't know yet. We haven't had a chance -- he was actually engaged in a long conversation with Prime Minister Prodi, and I believe the subject was Bosnia because the Italian Prime Minister had just recently been in Bosnia and he was seeking an opportunity to discuss Bosnia with the President. I'm told that that break went on because they were trying to get the temperature in the room lowered.

Q: Mike, the President seemed to be spending an awful lot of time talking to Blair during the remarks.

MR. MCCURRY: He was seated next to Prime Minister Blair, so it's not unusual that he would be talking to the person who was his seat mate.

Q: I'm just wondering if you know what they were talking about.

MR. MCCURRY: I mean, since they both speak English -- (laughter) -- or at least variance of, it's probably not surprising that they would engage in animated conversation.

Q: But you don't know what they were talking about?

MR. MCCURRY: No, I haven't, obviously, had a chance to talk to the President in more detail about his conversations, and we'll try to do more of that later.

Q: During the five-minute break that we had because of the heat, did the President talk to any other leaders or was he --

MR. MCCURRY: Just President Chirac, that I saw, and then he moved to the back of the room and had some discussions with some of his other counterparts.

Q: Not Yeltsin, as far as you know?

MR. MCCURRY: Not as far as I know. My guess is he probably saved that because he knew he was seeing President Yeltsin later.

Q: Is it safe to say the President was surprised by his remark, as well?

MR. MCCURRY: No, I wouldn't say "surprised," just saying curious and interested in getting further clarification.

Q: What's on the agenda for his coming meeting with Yeltsin?

MR. MCCURRY: They will discuss issues related to the further implementation of the Founding Act that was signed today. They will most likely discuss Bosnia, but I suspect most of the time will be spent preparing items related to the agenda at the Denver Summit of the Eight.

Q: And will they talk about START II at all?

MR. MCCURRY: The President will again press upon President Yeltsin the importance of Duma ratification of START II, yes.

Q: Is it certain that Yeltsin will be at the Summit in Denver?

MR. MCCURRY: He's expected to attend, yes.

Q: Mike, when the NATO agreement was announced there seemed to be some confusion at least by President Yeltsin about what exactly Russia was allowed to do in terms of a veto. Do you feel like he's kind of backed off of that and has maybe come to accept your definition?

MR. MCCURRY: I don't know if there was confusion. I think he was presenting the Founding Act in a way that he thought would engender support among the Russian people. And you now all have Founding Act, so you know what's in it.

Q: Do you have any hope about President Chirac on the same wavelength as yours concerning Iran?

MR. MCCURRY: Well, we will continue to -- I've said often in the past, we will continue to have a critical dialogue with the European Union about the idea of a critical dialogue with Iran. And that will continue. With respect to the Iranian elections, as a number of us said over the weekend, it is really the actions of government that speak loudest. And the things that concern us and trouble us about Iran's behavior in the world need to change for us to think more liberally about Iran's role in the international community. And there's no evidence that we see of any change in the fundamental policies of that regime.

Q: Mike, what do you understand will be Yeltsin's role, or the Russian role, in Madrid?

MR. MCCURRY: That's a subject that, as you can tell from President Chirac's remarks today, is still under discussion. President Chirac met with President Yeltsin last night, and my understanding is, among other things, that President Chirac, as did President Clinton, talked about the importance of the Madrid Summit and inquiries were being made about whether or not President Yeltsin might be in attendance in Madrid. I don't believe an answer has been given by the Russian Federation.

Q: In the meeting with Chirac, did the Presidents discuss France's desire to have Romania and possibly Slovenia as one of the first countries in NATO?

MR. MCCURRY: I think on the general subject of NATO enlargement, the who and the how and the when were part of the discussion.

Q: Did they discuss the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger?

MR. MCCURRY: Not that was reported to me. I'll check specifically on that subject. But I didn't have any indication that that subject came up. And, in any event, our view on that is well-known, that while it's under review by the Federal Trade Commission, we're not inclined to make much of a comment on it in any event.

Q: Mike, when you say that the missiles can be fairly quickly and fairly easily retargeted, how quickly? I mean, are we talking minutes?

MR. MCCURRY: That's -- normally, when you talk about warheads and how you target them and things like that, we don't really talk about that in open-microphone situations. It's been reported and you can read that in any report on this subject and I don't think we've ever disputed any of the public accounts.

Q: Do we have idea how many Russian missiles we're talking about that would be affected?

MR. MCCURRY: I don't believe -- the strategic rocket forces commander has ever indicated what they're targeting doctrine is with respect to intermediate range targets for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Is that correct? Look over to my experts over here.