Yeltsin rejected the charges of receiving bribes

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in a telephone conversation with US President, Bill Clinton, said that Yeltsin's accusations of corruption have a political background. This was announced to reporters by the US presidential adviser to Samuel Berger.

According to Berger, Clinton specifically asked Yeltsin that he was thinking about the statements of Swiss investigators, according to which family members of the Russian president received bribes worth about $ 15 million from the Mabetex construction company, which received good orders for the Kremlin’s reconstruction. "Yeltsin rejected all these accusations," Berger said.

However, according to the New York Times on Thursday, another source in the White House said that in fact, Yeltsin’s answer was not so categorical. Yeltsin, according to the source, did not give such a detailed refutation, but only said that the charges were not sufficiently justified.

According to the representative of the White House, President Clinton during the conversation did not show that he completely accepts Yeltsin's assurances. Clinton did not refute the remark made by Yeltsin that the last cash scandals can ruin the relationship between the United States and Russia.

The US administration is more worried about the story with Swiss banks, but a scandal with Bank of New York. According to American investigators, more than 10 billion dollars of Russian money were “washed” through this bank, and some of them could be part of the loans received by Russia from the International Monetary Fund. Republicans in the American Congress demand that the Clinton administration find out where the IMF money went before giving Russia a new loan. A group of representatives of Russian law enforcement agencies will arrive next week to Washington, where, together with the FBI and other American law enforcement agencies, they will take part in the investigation of the scandal around international financial transactions with the participation of an American bank.

During a telephone conversation, Yeltsin and Clinton also discussed the schedule of bilateral contacts planned for the near future. Particular attention was paid to the upcoming New Zealand during the forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation for the meeting of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin with Bill Clinton. An exchange of views on the problem of security and disarmament, in particular, on contracts on START and pro, took place.

The presidents also discussed the situation in Dagestan. According to Samuel Berger, "Yeltsin hopes that he can take control of the situation, although this is not easy."