Washington, 18 October 1996 (RFE/RL) -- The United States says Russian President Boris Yeltsin's dismissal of his security chief Alexander Lebed is "an internal affair of the Russian government and the Russian people."
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns had no other comment on the dramatic development this afternoon. The White House press office issued a similar brief statement, adding that Yeltsin was acting in accordance with his prerogatives as president under the Russian constitution.
In Moscow, U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry said the sacking of Lebed should cause no fundamental change in U.S. relations with Russia.