The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1990-1997

1994Prime Minister (1990-1997)

Mr Major’s Doorstep Interview in Naples (I) – 9 July 1994

Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep interview in Naples, after meeting President Yeltsin, on Saturday 9th July 1994.


QUESTION:

[Inaudible]

PRIME MINISTER:

I am delighted he is here. We discussed the prospect of him attending when I was in Moscow earlier this year and I am delighted he is here. He has a very substantial contribution to make.

QUESTION:

Did you discuss the death of the North Korean President at all?

PRIME MINISTER:

No. It is very probable we will do that this evening but we didn’t discuss it in our brief discussion just now.

QUESTION:

Are there any other things which you got out of the meeting which you found pleasing and welcoming?

PRIME MINISTER:

We discussed a number of bilateral matters. We discussed the Queen’s forthcoming trip to Russia when she will be going to Moscow and St. Petersburg and perhaps other places. President Yeltsin I hope is coming to the United Kingdom. And then we spent a substantial amount of time on Bosnia.

QUESTION:

What did you discuss on Bosnia?

PRIME MINISTER:

We discussed the prospects of the Contact Group’s report being accepted by both sides and how to play our part in encouraging them to accept it. The sooner we can turn a not terribly satisfactory ceasefire into a permanent ceasefire and peace settlement the better and those were the matters we were talking about.

QUESTION:

Did you discuss Chernobyl?

PRIME MINISTER:

We haven’t done so yet. We will be discussing that with him this evening.

QUESTION:

Will it be a sticky point?

PRIME MINISTER:

I don’t think so, no certainly not.