This was in the context of the planned missile defense system though which this screenshot cuts off, I just sat and read all the memo.
The context is broader than that, but even if it hadn't been, it still doesn't change the meaning and intent of Yeltsin's demand. He wants Europe, and his argument is that Russia should be allowed to have Europe, because she is (a) European, and (b) powerful enough to protect the continent from future threats.
Yeltsin is so convinced this is a reasonable position that he tells Clinton the US can have all the other states, and protect them. He considers this a legitimate and entirely reasonable proposal.
President Yeltsin: Bill, Bill. I got your note. It went into all these things in incredible detail. I read it and I was satisfied. I've not yet ceased to believe in you. I ask you one thing. Just give Europe to Russia. The U.S. is not in Europe. Europe should be the business of Europeans. Russia is half European and half Asian.
The President: So you want Asia too?
President Yeltsin: Sure, sure. Bill. Eventually, we will have to agree on all of this.
The President: I don't think the Europeans would like this very much.
Not all. But I am a European. I live in Moscow. Moscow is in Europe and I like it. You can take all the other states and provide security to them. I will take Europe and provide them security. Well, not I. Russia will.
Yeltsin also admits that Russia wants Asia, on the grounds that 'Russia is half European and half Asian.' He sees Russia's acquisition of Europe and Asia as inevitable, telling Clinton 'Eventually we will have to agree on all of this.'
Note that Clinton says 'I don't think the Europeans would like this very much.' Does he mean the Europeans would not like Russia providing security for them with a missile shield? Of course not, that wouldn't make any sense.
He means the Europeans would not like being absorbed into Russia's sphere of influence. They know what happened to the Soviet vassal states, and they don't want a return to those years.
There is no way to read the words 'Just give Europe to Russia' and 'I will take Europe' as 'I just want a missile defence system, it's no big deal.' The same applies to his intentions for Asia. Clinton understands this perfectly well, as his reply shows.
The
broader context of the discussion is Yeltsin's concerns about foreign intervention in his war on Chechnya, which he sees as a uniquely European issue that non-Europeans should stay out of. This is such a critical issue for Yeltsin that he raises it immediately at the start of their meeting:
President Yeltsin: Well, Bill, what about those camps here in Turkey that are preparing troops to go into Chechnya? Aren't you in charge of those? I have the details. Minister Ivanov, give me the map. I want to show you where the mercenarie sare being trained and then being sent into Chechnya. They are armed to the teeth.
(Note: Yeltsin pulls out map of Turkey and circulates it.).
Bill, this is your fault. I told Demirel yesterday thatI will send the head of the SRV tomorrow and we will show him where the camps are located. These are not state sanctioned camps. They are sponsored by NGOs and religious organizations. But let me tell you if this were in Russia and there were but one camp, I would throw them all out and put the bandits in the electric chair.
This is how the National Security Archive describes the entire exchange:
This amazing conversation is the last meeting Clinton has with Yeltsin as president of Russia. It was not clear up to the last moment whether, because of his health, Yeltsin was going to make it to the summit of OSCE in Istanbul, to sign the adapted Conventional Forces Treaty.
In this memcon, Yeltsin is emotional and expansive, even somewhat unstable, taking turns blasting Clinton for his "support" for Chechen terrorist organizations and praising him as a friend and a partner.
He tells Clinton to "just give Europe to Russia," because Russia is in Europe and the United States is not. The Russian president says, "You can take all the other states and provide security to them. I will take Europe and provide them security."
He brags about his successes in routing terrorists in Dagestan and speaks the tough language that later comes to be associated with Putin, such as his intention to "put the bandits in the electric chair."
Yeltsin is confused by what exactly he has signed and sent to Duma, but he promises to end the conflict in Chechnya and to sign the CFE treaty.
So it's not difficult to understand why this memo was classified as 'Secret', because its contents is politically explosive. You can't hand wave this and pretend Yeltsin meant something entirely different.
