Historical Documents - Office of the Historian

186. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State1

418.

Moscow, January 7, 1991, 1726Z

1.: Secret—Entire Text.
2.: I passed Reftel letter, after providing a brief oral summary of it, to Foreign Minister Shevardnadze and Deputy Foreign Minister Obukhov during a meeting with them on the afternoon of January 7.
3.: Shevardnadze directed Obukhov to study the letter and provide a response as soon as possible. With regard to the final paragraph of the letter, Shevardnadze said that he had talked with Secretary Baker about the possibility of a ministerial. However, he added, “my situation is such, and the situation of the country is such, that it would hardly be possible to arrange a ministerial meeting in the near future.” Shevardnadze noted that his own delicate situation as a lame-duck was the primary reason, although Obukhov commented that the next several days would also require the minister’s presence in Moscow, as work proceeded on answering the many questions on CFE that had recently arisen.
4.: I noted to Shevardnadze and Obukhov my personal view that the fact that a ministerial might not be possible in the near future did not necessarily rule out a meeting at a lower level. It was just that a “deputies” meeting on such short notice was difficult to arrangE. Shevardnadze agreed, and directed Obukhov to try and work out suitable dates for a “deputies” meeting through diplomatic channels.

Matlock

Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, N910001–0053. Secret; Immediate; Nodis.↩
See Document 185.↩