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place in June 1990, would probably be brought forward.
ONFIDENT
President Mitterrand' Interview with European Editors
THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY said that reports of an interview given by the French President, Monsieur
rancois Mitterrand, to European editors had attracted Considerable publicity for remarks about the United
dom's role in developments of European Community py. However the contents of this interview were not
In a brief discussion, it was pointed out that the interview was much less controversial than the news reports suggested the newspapers had been highly selective in their reporting and had created a false impression. The interview generally restated points made by President Mitterrand he time of the Madrid Summit.
Visit by Soviet Defence
Minister
NF
THE SECRETARY OF STX
DEFENCE said that General
Dimitry Yazov was paying the first visit to Britain by a Soviet Defence Minister The visit had gone well within limited objectives. General Yazov had shown no evidence of new thinking and had basically repeated earlier positions. His main themes were that the old War had ended, the international climate had improved, and greater trust was needed. The attitude of the General and his party had noticeably thawed during some very successful military visits. The Navy and Air Force paysonnel had put on a bravura performance. General Yatoy had been particularly impressed that the officers in each unit had briefed him in Russian. General Yazov had also been favourably struck by the high quality of the sailors and airmen with whom he had spoken, and by the Other Ranks' club which he visited. discussion, General Yazov had revealed that it would take a long time to restructure Soviet forces. Vid admitted that the process could take years, and in general had spoken about the changes in a realistic faship clear that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation seized the high ground on conventional force refleti thanks to the initiative by the American President, George Bush. General Yazov's visit was part of a g ordinated series of such visits to Western countries would be essential to remind Western public opinion tha such visits, though welcome, did not remove the need to maintain a strong defence.
8
It was
d
In
IDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
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