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coup. That’s a thought that persists to this day, that Gorbachev was trying, in some way,
to get rid of Yeltsin, that Yeltsin was such a threat to Gorbachev that this coup may have
been a clumsy effort to get rid of Yeltsin. Yeltsin was warned by the KGB in Moscow
and he escaped – he was about to be captured. When I was ambassador in Ukraine I
stayed at Foros there, where Gorbachev had been seized by KGB.
Q: This is down in the Crimea.
MILLER: In the Crimea, yes, in the Crimea – Foros is in the southwest coast of the
Crimea. It is a beautiful place, and with a magnificent dacha. The director of Foros told
me details during my stay there in 1996, of the days of the coup. He was there at the time
of the coup. He said that during the coup, Gorbachev always had full communications
with Moscow, he was very well-treated. The director believed that Gorbachev was really
free to leave, but did not do so until Yeltsin sent Sergei Shakhrai down with a plane to
bring him back after the coup effort collapsed. The Director of Foros believed that
Gorbachev was part of the coup. I know that Yeltsin’s people believed that.
Q: At the time, I mean, before and all, how were you observing your committee and you
yourself the rise of Yeltsin or the appearance of Yeltsin?
MILLER: Well, we saw that very directly. I saw it really directly because we were in
close contact with Yeltsin’s key aides who we had brought to the United States on
exchange visits. Some of Yeltsin’s closest aides were among the young leaders that were
chosen to go to the United States under our auspices, and they were very important. They
included some of Yeltsin’s chief advisors. Yeltsin’s staff were those who decided the
Soviet Union was an empty shell and going with Russia. Russia, they believed, was
where their future lay. Most of the young people chosen by Gorbachev’s perestroika cadre
went with Russia when they saw the end coming. Fortunately, our contacts with Yeltsin
and his chief aides were extremely good.
After Sakharov’s death in 1989, Yeltsin, who admired Sakharov greatly, was very
solicitous of Yelena Bonner.
Q: His wife.
MILLER: His wife. She was a good friend, and still is a good friend of mine. We worked
together on a number of matters of human rights issues and continue to do so. I am
presently on the board of the Sakharov Foundation. Yelena Bonner is the chairman.
Our contacts with the Yeltsin group, in early years of the Russian Republic were very
close, particularly in the new Parliament, the new courts, the constitutional court, the
Supreme Court, legal education, and in many parts of the new Russian society.
Q: At one point, when the rivalry between Yeltsin and Gorbachev was becoming more
and more apparent, there were attempts to downplay Yeltsin. We put our money on
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