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Geneva Summit (1985)

Coordinates: 46°17′24″N 6°10′01″E / 46.29009°N 6.16705°E / 46.29009; 6.16705
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For other uses of "Geneva Summit", see Geneva Summit.

Geneva Summit
Reagan and Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit
Host country  Switzerland
DateNovember 19–20, 1985
Venue(s)Villa Fleur d'Eau
CitiesGeneva
ParticipantsSoviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev
United States Ronald Reagan
FollowsVienna Summit (1979)
PrecedesReykjavík Summit (1986)

The Geneva Summit of 1985 was a Cold War-era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was held on November 19 and 20, 1985, between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The two leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race.

Background

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The United States Strategic Defense Initiative was high on Gorbachev's agenda at the Geneva Summit

In the mid-1980s, both the Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in a Cold War struggle, but both nations sought to reduce the total number of nuclear weapons. The Soviets sought to halve the number of nuclear-equipped bombers and missiles, and the U.S. sought to ensure that neither side gained a first-strike advantage, and that the protect rights of defensive systems were not endangered.[1] Diplomats struggled to come up with planned results in advance, with Soviets rejecting the vast majority of the items that U.S. negotiators proposed.[2]

The Geneva Summit was planned months in advance, so both superpowers had the opportunity to posture and to stake their positions in the court of public opinion. Reagan's security advisor Robert McFarlane said that the United States was having "real trouble establishing a dialogue" with the Soviets, and announced that the U.S. would be conducting its test of the missile defense system known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The Soviets, in turn, announced a unilateral moratorium on underground nuclear tests and invited the Americans to also cease such testing, a request that was rebuffed.[3]

Meeting

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The Versoix municipality as it appears on the north-west shore of Lake Geneva. Villa Fleur D'Eau, where the principal meetings were held, is circled.

On November 19, 1985, U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time, in Geneva, to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race. The meeting was held at Fleur d'Eau, a villa in Versoix.[4] Taking place over the course of two days, the summit was structured as a series of private meetings with only Reagan and Gorbachev present (and their interpreters) interspersed with a series of plenary meetings with Reagan and Gorbachev accompanied by their major advisors:[5]

Day one: November 19, 1985 Day two: November 20, 1985
  • First private meeting, 60 min
  • First plenary meeting, 48 min
  • Second plenary meeting, 70 min
  • Second private meeting, 65 min
  • Dinner hosted by the Gorbachevs at Geneva's Soviet Mission, 150 min
  • Third private meeting, 70 min
  • Third plenary meeting, 70 min
  • Fourth plenary meeting, 45 min
  • Dinner hosted by the Reagans at Maison de Saussure, 150 min

Gorbachev later said: "We viewed the Geneva meeting realistically, without grand expectations, yet we hoped to lay the foundations for a serious dialogue in the future."[6] Similar to former president Eisenhower in 1955, Reagan believed that a personal relationship among leaders was the necessary first step to breaking down the barriers of tension that existed between the two countries. Reagan's goal was to convince Gorbachev that America desired peace above all else.[7] Reagan described his hopes for the summit as a "mission for peace". The first thing Reagan said to Gorbachev was "The United States and the Soviet Union are the two greatest countries on Earth, the superpowers. They are the only ones who can start World War 3, but also the only two countries that could bring peace to the world."[5]: 651  He then emphasized the personal similarities between the two leaders, with both being born in similar "rural hamlets in the middle of their respective countries" and the great responsibilities they held.[5]: 650–651 

During their first private meeting, Gorbachev told Reagan of information he had received from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, specifically the Institute for Earth Studies, where the scientists had become convinced that there would be a major earthquake in an area of California and Nevada by 1988. This forecast was based on the computer analyses of patterns of seismicity worldwide. Reagan replied that he realized that such an earthquake was considered to be overdue.[5]: 655 [a]

According to Secretary of State George Shultz, Reagan and Gorbachev's first private meeting exceeded their time limit by over a half an hour. A Reagan assistant asked Shultz whether he should interrupt the meeting to end it by its allotted time. Shultz responded, "If you think so, then you shouldn't have this job."[9]

In a 2009 interview, Gorbachev revealed that during their second private meeting, Reagan asked if the Soviet Union would help if the U.S. was invaded by aliens from space. Gorbachev said yes, and that Reagan said, "we would too".[b][10][11] Newer Soviet proposals that Gorbachev had brought to Geneva were also discussed, according to White House spokesman Larry Speakes, who said that senior arms control adviser Paul Nitze and Assistant Defense Secretary Richard Perle had joined in appurtenant meetings of U.S. and Soviet senior advisers at the Soviet mission in Geneva.[12]

Members of the Reagan Administration were said to have privately lamented what they considered to be an insufficient focus on human rights issues at the summit. Reagan stressed in interviews before the summit that he would deal with that issue privately with Gorbachev, on the grounds that he had decided the best way to deal with it was through "quiet diplomacy."[12]

Conclusion and agreements

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The closing joint-press conference of the Geneva Summit on November 21, 1985

In their joint news conference, Reagan and Gorbachev announced several agreements including implementation of the already signed Northern Pacific Air Safety accord that aimed at preventing a repeat of the Soviet downing of Korean Airlines Flight 007 in September 1983, and an agreement on the opening of consulates in Kiev and New York. Another agreement was to renew regular U.S.‑Soviet dialogue on future summit meetings. Forty‑one cultural exchange agreements were signed, including the restart of exchanges of theatrical and artistic groups and major art exhibits that were suspended after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.[12]

At the end of the summit, Reagan gave Gorbachev a Colonial Williamsburg Chippendale-style mahogany box and desk set with fountain pens, carrying the theme "peace through communications," selected in honor of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.‑Soviet Apollo–Soyuz space mission. Gorbachev gave Reagan a set of bronze medallions in a leather case representing the 15 republics of the Soviet Union.[12]

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No. Name of the document United Nations
Documents symbol
(General Assembly) 		United Nations
Documents symbol
(Security Council)
1 Interview given by the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, to Izvestia Newspaper, published with reductions[13] on November 4, 1985 (Moscow evening issue) and on November 5, 1985 (USSR national issue) no data no data
2 Address to the nation given by the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, on the upcoming Soviet-United States summit meeting in Geneva on 14 November 1985 no data no data
3 U.S.-Soviet joint statement issued in Geneva on 21 November 1985 A/40/1070 —
4 Press conference given by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, in Geneva on November 21, 1985 no data no data
5 Address given by the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, before a joint session of the Congress following the Soviet-United States summit meeting in Geneva on 21 November 1985 no data no data
6 Radio address to the nation given by the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, on the Soviet-United States summit meeting in Geneva on 23 November 1985 no data no data
7 Report given by deputy Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at the session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on November 27, 1985 A/40/987 S/17670

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In 1988, the head of the Soviet team that provided their forecast to the Institute for Earth Studies, Vladimir Keilis-Borok, was invited to the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council to present a modified version of the probability forecast Gorbachev had given to Reagan. He extended the time window of that forecast from the end of 1988 to mid-1992 and restricted the area to a more limited region of central and southern California, an area that included the site and date of the future 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[8]
  2. ^ The official record of conversations at the summit shows Reagan returning to the topic of aliens during the dinner hosted by the Gorbachevs, with Reagan mentioning during an impromptu toast that he had told Foreign Minister Shevardnadze that "if the people of the world were to find out that there was some alien life form that was going to attack the Earth approaching on Halley’s Comet, then that knowledge would unite all the peoples of the world."[5]: 687 

References

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  1. ^ "Proposals bode well for Geneva Summit". The Milwaukee Sentinel. November 2, 1985. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Communique Unlikely at Geneva Summit". The Glasgow Herald. November 11, 1985.
  3. ^ Coffey, Raymond (August 28, 1985). "Geneva Summit Could Turn Into Bare-Knuckles Confrontation". The Evening Independant.
  4. ^ "L'accueil de Reagan". Radio Télévision Suisse (in French). November 19, 1985.
  5. ^ a b c d e Charles, Elizabeth C.; Rasmussen, Kathleen B., eds. (2020). "Reagan-Gorbachev Meetings in Geneva, November 1985: Memorandum of Conversations". Foreign Relations of the United States: Soviet Union, March 1985 to October 1986 (PDF) (Report). Vol. 5. Washington, D.C.: Department of State. pp. 650-720 (print) pp. 681-751 (pdf).
  6. ^ Matlock, Jack (November 8, 2005). Reagan and Gorbachev. Random House Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 9780812974898.
  7. ^ Reagan, Ronald; Shultz, George P. (2003). Skinner, Kiron K.; Graebner Anderson, Annelise; Anderson, Martin (eds.). Reagan: A Life In Letters. New York: Free Press. p. 288. ISBN 9780743219662. OCLC 52493559.
  8. ^ Yeats, Robert S. (June 1, 1999). "Forecasting the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake—Close But No Cigar". Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. Vol. 36, issue 10. p. 5.7.11.1. doi:10.5860/choice.36-5709. S2CID 128171993.
  9. ^ "A conversation with George Shultz". Charlie Rose. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  10. ^ Mikhail Gorbachev, George Shultz (April 21, 2009). The Berlin Wall: 20 Years Later (Television production). Charlie Rose. Event occurs at 15:50.
  11. ^ "Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian Institution. November 25, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d Hoffman, David; Oberdorfer, Dan; Cannon, Lou; Lee, Gary (November 21, 1985). "Gorbachev Agrees to Visit U.S. Next Year". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 30, 2024.
  13. ^ William J. Eaton (November 5, 1985). "Soviets Publish Edited Interview With Reagan : Izvestia Cuts Harsher Criticism of Kremlin, Offers Point-by-Point Rebuttal of 'Distortion'". Los Angeles Times., LA Times
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46°17′24″N 6°10′01″E / 46.29009°N 6.16705°E / 46.29009; 6.16705

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