Boris Yeltsin, from the Bison Lodge Hotel in Belarus, telephones a stunned American President George H.W. Bush, telling him, “Today a very important event took place in our country. I wanted to inform you personally before you learn the news from the press. The presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine have decided to dissolve the Soviet Union. After making this call, Yeltsin asks Belarusian President Shushkevich to inform Gorbachev, who is clearly furious.”
