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Kremlin says Russian international policy unchanged
Global reaction:
March 23, 1998
Web posted at: 10:22 a.m. EDT (1022 GMT)MOSCOW (CNN) -- President Boris Yeltsin's dismissal of the government will not affect Russia's international relations, the Kremlin said Monday.
"Russian foreign policy is based on long-term national interests, and changes in the government cannot influence its course," presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told a news conference after Yelstin's announcement.
That position was echoed by Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who was among those fired in the shakeup. "Our foreign policy will not change, it will be the same," the Russian Interfax news agency quoted Primakov as saying Monday, shortly before a meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina.
The Kremlin also underlined that Thursday's planned troika meeting involving Yeltsin, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl would go ahead.
International reaction to the shakeup:
France
"President Yeltsin said the economic reform course would be maintained, and that is the essential point for us," said French deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Yves Doutriaux.
Doutriaux added there would be no official reaction from France because Paris considers the Cabinet shakeup a domestic issue.
Germany
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's office declined to comment, but other German officials told CNN the announcement came as a major surprise.
While the foreign ministry said it was too early to comment on the move, business leaders in Germany, a key trading partner of Russia, were watching carefully for possible changes in Russia's economic reform program.
Britain
A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain is "watching developments very closely."
"We don't expect any change in the United Kingdom's or the European Union's underlying relationship with Russia. Britain currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU", he said.
Baltics
"(Lithuanian) President Valdas Adamkus thinks that the change of government is an internal matter and is a normal democratic procedure," a spokeswoman for Adamkus said.
The Baltic News Service quoted the government of the smallest Baltic state, Estonia, as saying it saw no need to interrupt the formation of an inter-government commission being set up to iron out various bilateral issues.
Latvia, whose ties with Russia recently have been rocky, said politicians would continue to work for good relations.
United States
President Bill Clinton learned about Yeltsin's move while on a visit to Ghana.
"We don't interfere in the internal affairs of any country and as president he (Yeltsin) has to constitute the government as he sees fit," Clinton said.
"We hope that the general direction of policy will be unaffected by this (Cabinet dismissal) and I have no reason to believe that anything different will occur ... that's at all adverse to the partnership we have been building with Russia," he said.
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Japan
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said the Cabinet dismissal would not change Japan's intent to pursue stronger bilateral ties with Russia.
"As for Japan and Russia's relations, we don't have any intention to change the present trend from our side," Hashimoto said.
China
There has been no official Chinese comment on the firing of the Russian Cabinet, but the Chinese media have reported it.
Political analysts say China is interested in maintaining the constructive work relationship between Beijing and Moscow with regard to such issues as trade and the resolution of border disputes.
Paris Bureau Chief Peter Humi, Berlin Bureau Chief Bill Delaney, Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon and Reuters contributed to this report.
Newsmaker profiles:
- Boris Yeltsin - Russian President
- Viktor Chernomyrdin - Former Russian Prime Minister
- Anatoly Chubais - Former Russian First Deputy Prime Minister
Related stories:
- Boris Yeltsin fires premier, entire Russian government - March 23, 1998
- Chernomyrdin: 'no need to panic' - March 23, 1998
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