Yeltsin Quotes

You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long. ~ Boris Yeltsin

International terrorism is throwing down a challenge, and not just to Russia. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Nixon urged Clinton to maintain his relationship with Yeltsin but make contact with other democrats in Russia. He warned Clinton away from some ultranationalists and toward those interested in liberty and reform. He pressed Clinton to replace his ambassador in Kiev and concentrate future U.S. economic aid on Ukraine, where it would matter most. ~ Nancy Gibbs

The clouds of terror and dictatorship are gathering over the whole country. They must not be allowed to bring eternal night. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Your commanders have ordered you to storm the White House and to arrest me. But I as the elected President of Russia give you the order to turn your tanks and not to fight against your own people. ~ Boris Yeltsin

We've worked with President Yeltsin. He is the President of the country. He's been a reformer. We've been able to accomplish a number of things together. ~ Warren Christopher

What do you think it's worth, Lassiter, finding and returning the priceless heritage of a nation?" "How about a Boy Scout merit badge and a thank-you note from Yeltsin?" Above us, ~ Paul Levine

Russia also declared its independence. This was approved by the Supreme Soviet, and you know and remember that there was the Declaration on the Independence of Russia. ~ Boris Yeltsin

The Kremlin said Yeltsin was committed to the deal, however. President Yeltsin states clearly and unequivocally that he is an initiator of the unification of the two fraternal states and their peoples, a consistent and firm supporter of it, ... It is a geopolitical necessity and an economic reality. ~ Sergey Yastrzhembsky

You have no right to criticise Russia over Chechnya. ~ Boris Yeltsin

The most important thing is that Milosevic agreed to sit at the negotiating table with the Kosovo Albanians. ~ Boris Yeltsin

On December 9, 1994, Yeltsin issued a statement ordering the Federal army to execute the disarmament of all illegal armed units in Chechnya, or as they were known locally, the government. ~ Anthony Marra

While maintaining our nuclear potential at the proper level, we need to devote more attention to developing the entire range of means of information warfare. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Thousands of mercenaries, who have trained in camps on the territory of Chechnya as well as come in from abroad, are actually preparing to impose extremist ideas on the whole world. ~ Boris Yeltsin

I would like to stress here that a lasting peace in the Chechen republic and so-called peace talks with the bandits are not the same thing, and I would ask everyone to make no mistake about that. ~ Boris Yeltsin

We want peace and a political solution to the situation in Chechnya. ~ Boris Yeltsin

I especially love driving down a hill directly at a tree and swerving to one side at the last moment. That's my way to relax. ~ Boris Yeltsin

We are well aware from which countries and through which countries the terrorists are receiving support. In the immediate future I shall be calling upon the leaders of these states to put a stop to this kind of activity. ~ Boris Yeltsin

I am convinced that the moment is coming when, with its message of eternal, universal values, it will come to the aid of our society. For in these words: "Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," lie those very moral principles that will enable us to survive even the most critical situations. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Why didn't we put Stalin on trial? I'll tell you why...In order to condemn Stalin, you'd have to condemn your friends and relatives along with him. The people closest to you...our neighbor Yuri turned out to have been the one who informed on my father. For nothing, as my mother would say...When Yeltsin came to power, I got a copy of his file, which included several informants' reports. It turned out that one of them had been written by Aunt Olga...his niece...a beautiful woman, full of joy...It's not just Stalin and Beria, it's also our neighbor Yuri and beautiful Aunt Olga... ~ Svetlana Alexievich

A politician must have some scruples, a certain decency; he cannot smear himself in the mud for the sake of a high ideal. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Let's not talk about Communism. Communism was just an idea, just pie in the sky. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Europe has found itself confronted with fresh challenges - challenges of a global character, the nature of which is directly connected with changes in the international climate and the difficulties of seeking new models for co-operation. ~ Boris Yeltsin

It is especially important to encourage unorthodox thinking when the situation is critical: At such moments every new word and fresh thought is more precious than gold. Indeed, people must not be deprived of the right to think their own thoughts. ~ Boris Yeltsin

One could see that what you are writing was that today's meeting with President Bill Clinton was going to be a disaster. Now, for the first time, I can tell you that you are a disaster. ~ Boris Yeltsin

I cannot shift the blame for Chechnya, for the sorrow of numerous mothers and fathers. I made the decision, therefore I am responsible. ~ Boris Yeltsin

We all have an equal interest in stability and security throughout Europe. The years the OSCE has existed, and particularly this year, have given rise to great expectations and at the same time to powerful disappointments. ~ Boris Yeltsin

I understand that it's hard for everyone, but one cannot give in to emotions ... we'll have to draw lessons from the current crisis and now we'll have to work on overcoming it. ~ Boris Yeltsin

The main problem with being president is the constant sense that you are inside a glass bowl for everyone to see, or in a kind of barometric chamber with an artificial atmosphere where you must stay all the time. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Not a single reform effort in Russia has ever been completed. ~ Boris Yeltsin

Money, big money (which is actually a relative concept) is always, under any circumstances, a seduction, a test of morals, a temptation to sin. ~ Boris Yeltsin

I ask you to forgive me for not fulfilling some hopes of those people who believed that we would be able to jump from the totalitarian past into a bright, rich and civilized future in one go. ~ Boris Yeltsin

The Soviet Union could not exist without the image of the empire. The image of the empire could not exist without the image of force. The USSR ended the moment the first hammer pounded the Berlin Wall. ~ Boris Yeltsin

The citizen lives in each of us. In the days of Brezhnev, Andropov, Gorbachev and Yeltsin, I was constantly trying to suppress the responsible citizen in me. I told myself that I was, after all, an artist. ~ Vladimir Sorokin

I knew President Yeltsin well. He would never have tolerated government officials demonstratively showing off the millions they acquired through corruption, the way it's done today. ~ Mikhail Khodorkovsky

A man must live like a great brilliant flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is far better than a mean little flame. ~ Boris Yeltsin