“In order to provide the president with an additional day to recuperate, President Clinton and President Yeltsin have agreed to delay the start of the summit in Helsinki by one day,” White House spokesman David Johnson said. Clinton will leave Washington late on March 19 and arrive in Helsinki midday Thursday.
The White House on Saturday had said there had been no discussion of delaying or significantly altering Clinton’s plans for the two-day summit with Yeltsin, whose own health has been more of a concern than that of Clinton’s.
Associated Press
Clinton was visiting professional golfer Greg Norman when he tore a tendon in his knee
Clinton tore his tendon in a freak accident on Friday when he lost his footing on a step at the Florida home of Australian golf professional Greg Norman. He was operated on Friday at Bethesda National Navy Medical Center.
Johnson said that the previously announced summit schedule would remain essentially the same.
Clinton’s planned visit to Denmark will be postponed until July, Johnson said. He said the president expressed appreciation to the governments of Denmark, Finland and Russia for agreeing to the postponement.
Clinton experienced some sharp pain Saturday after an emergency surgery to repair a torn tendon on his right knee.
He is due to be discharged from the hospital in suburban Maryland on Sunday.
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who delayed the start of her trip to Africa, led a physical therapist on a tour of the White House Saturday to determine what changes would be needed to make life easier and safer for a president on crutches.
“They walked literally room by room … and located furniture that’s going to have to be moved and rugs that are going to have to be taped down and some of the physical adjustments they’ll have to make,” Press Secretary Mike McCurry said.
If discharged Sunday, Clinton planned a limited Monday schedule — a brief session with Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who is in Washington to prepare for the summit, and a farewell exchange with Walter Mondale, the former vice president who is stepping down as U.S. ambassador to Japan.
Clinton will forgo the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meeting with a senior Irish official. Prime Minister John Bruton, instead, will meet with Gore.