27 April 1998
[EXCERPTS] DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING INDEX Monday, April 27, 1998 Briefer: James B. Foley ............. RUSSIA 2 Status of START II in the Wake of PM Kiriyenko's Nomination by the Russian Duma ............. Q: I have a question about Russia and the situation in parliament there. How much concern is there about the threatened retaliation by the Russian Duma against President Yeltsin basically backing them against a wall on confirming his Prime Minister? Are you worried about the possibility that they would slow down, for example, ratification of START II? MR. FOLEY: Well, I would - I'm not familiar with recent reporting of statements by Duma members in the wake of the confirmation of Mr. Kiriyenko as Prime Minister. As you know, on Friday, we welcomed his approval by the Duma. I believe Vice President Gore also spoke with the new Prime Minister and looked forward to continuing the commission that's been doing good work over these years. So we're rather optimistic about the prospects, at least to continue close cooperation between the United States and Russia on a range of issues. President Yeltsin, as well as his new Prime Minister, have reiterated their support for continuing to pursue economic reforms at home and the basis thrust of Russian foreign policy, cooperation with the United States and other western nations abroad. So we don't see any change in Russian Government conditions, per se. Your question has more to do with the Duma in that, insofar as the START II ratification is concerned, we've seen even the chairman, or the Speaker of the Duma before the Kiriyenko nomination was approved coming out in favor of early ratification of the treaty. We think it's in the interest of both the United States and Russia, and the Russian Government itself is committed to pursuing ratification. If the speaker of the Duma himself is endorsing it and urging an early vote in favor, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. But we will have to see how the situation plays out. I think the next step is Prime Minister Kiriyenko has to name a new government; I believe that's expected this week, so it's premature to comment on what the legislative calendar may be in the weeks ahead. .......... (end transcript)