List of international trips made by Mikhail Gorbachev

This is a list of international trips made by Mikhail Gorbachev as the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union. In this role he was General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 until 1991 as well as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989 and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991.

Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate in April 1986

Gorbachev addressing UN General Assembly session, 1988

Ronald and Nancy Reagan, as well as the Gorbachevs in the Cross Hall of the White House before a state dinner, 8 December 1987

Summary of visits

1985

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

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1985:

Country	Areas visited	Date(s)	Details
France	Paris	2–5 October[1]	Met with President François Mitterrand.[2]
Netherlands	The Hague	2 November	[3]
Switzerland	Geneva	19–21 November	See Geneva Summit (1985)
Bulgaria	Sofia	8 December	Warsaw Pact summit[4]

1986

President Reagan and Gorbachev outside Höfði in Reykjavík

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1986:

Country	Areas visited	Date(s)	Details
East Germany	East Berlin	17–21 April	11th Congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany[5][6]
Hungary	Budapest	8-12 June	State visit and Warsaw Pact summit.[7][8][9][10][11]
Poland	Warsaw	29 June – 3 July	State visit[12]
Iceland	Reykjavík	11–12 October	See Reykjavík Summit[13]
Austria	Vienna	October	Working visit[14]
India	New Delhi	25–28 November	[15][16][17][18][19]

1987

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1987:

Country	Cities visited	Date(s)	Details
Czechoslovakia	Prague Bratislava	9–12 April	State visit.[20] It was postponed for four days due to Gorbachev having a "cold".[21][22] This also caused him to end his trip a day early so he could get a some rest before meeting with Secretary James Baker of the US the following week.[23]
France	Paris	May	State visit[24]
Romania	Bucharest	25–28 May	[25][26][27][28][29][30]
United Kingdom	RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire	7 December	En route to Washington, D.C.
United States	Washington, D.C.	7–10 December	Signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. See Washington Summit (1987).[31]

1988

Gorbachev (right) and his spouse Raisa Gorbacheva after a meeting in Wawel Castle during a visit to Poland, July 1988

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1988:

Country	Locations visited	Date(s)	Details
Yugoslavia	Belgrade Dubrovnik[32] Brdo pri Kranju[33]	14-19 March	State visit.[34][35][36]
Poland	Warsaw Kraków Szczecin	11–17 July	State visit[37] and Warsaw Pact summit[38][39][40][41]
India	New Delhi	17–21 November	[42][43]
United States	New York City	7–8 December	Gorbachev left the Warsaw Pact Summit early due to the 1988 Spitak earthquake which struck the Armenian S.S.R. that same day.[44] See Governors Island Summit.

1989

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1989:

Country	Areas visited	Date(s)	Details
Ireland	Shannon, County Clare	2 April	Stopover visit en route to Cuba. Met with Taoiseach Charles Haughey and Tánaiste Brian Lenihan Snr at Shannon Airport.[45][46]
Cuba	Havana	2–5 April	State visit[47][48][49][50][51]
United Kingdom	London	6–8 April	He was also received at Heathrow Airport by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with full military honors provided by the Queen's Colour Squadron.[52] He was also received with full military honors from the Coldstream Guards at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II.[53]
China	Beijing	15–18 May	See 1989 Sino-Soviet Summit[54][55][56]
West Germany	Bonn	12–16 June	[57][58][59]
France	Paris Strasbourg	4–6 July	[60][61][62][63][64][65]
East Germany	East Berlin	6–7 October	Attended the GDR's ruby jubilee military parade and celebrations.[66][67][59]
Finland	Helsinki Oulu	25–27 October	State visit. Met with President Mauno Koivisto and Prime Minister Harri Holkeri[68][69][70]
Vatican	Vatican City	29 November	Met with Pope John Paul II.[71][72]
Italy	Rome	29 November – 1 December[73]	State Visit[74][75][76][77][78]
Malta	Birżebbuġa (Maksim Gorkiy)	1–3 December	See Malta Summit[79][80]

1990

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1990:

Country	Areas visited	Date(s)	Details
Canada	Ottawa	29–30 May	He visited on a 36-hour stopover to Washington, in which he was received by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn, with the latter welcoming him with full honors at the airport by the RCMP.[81][82][83][84][85][86]
United States	Washington Camp David	30 May – 3 June	Signed the 1990 Chemical Weapons Accord. See Washington Summit
United States	Twin Cities, Minnesota	3 June	State visit where he met with Governor Rudy Perpich at the Minnesota Governor's Residence, then toured the Twin Cities including the Minnesota State Capitol, culminating in a meeting with various Minnesotan companies at the Minneapolis Radisson Hotel and visiting the Control Data Corporation in Bloomington.[87][88][89]
Finland	Helsinki	9 September	Discussed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait with U.S. President George H.W. Bush.[90][91][92] See Helsinki Summit
France	Paris	19 November	Signing of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

1991

The following are the international trips made by Gorbachev in 1991:

Country	Areas visited	Date(s)	Details
Japan	Tokyo	15–19 April	[93][94][95]
South Korea	Seoul	19 April	[96]
Norway	Oslo	4–5 June	Nobel Peace Prize acceptance[97]
Sweden	Stockholm	6 June	Working visit. met with Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson and Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello.[98]
United Kingdom	London	17 July	He attended the 17th G7 summit at the invitation of Prime Minister John Major.
Spain	Madrid	29–30 October	See Madrid Conference of 1991

Cancelled visits

Country	Areas to be visited	Date(s)	Details
Mexico	Mexico City	1987	[99][100]
Greece	Athens	1987	[101]
Cuba	Havana	1988	[citation needed]
Norway	Oslo	10 December 1990	Was supposed to accept the Nobel Peace Prize[102][103]

See also

• List of Soviet Union–United States summits
• List of international presidential trips made by Vladimir Putin
• List of international presidential trips made by Boris Yeltsin
• List of international presidential trips made by Dmitry Medvedev

References

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Works cited

• Doder, Dusko; Branson, Louise (1990). Gorbachev: Heretic in the Kremlin. London: Futura. ISBN 978-0-70884940-8.
• McCauley, Martin (1998). Gorbachev. Profiles in Power. London and New York: Longman. ISBN 978-0-58221597-9.
• Medvedev, Zhores (1986). Gorbachev. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-39302308-4.
• Taubman, William (2017). Gorbachev: His Life and Times. New York City: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-47114796-8.

External links

• Gorbaciov in Romania - Mapa Speciala - OMUL SI TIMPUL
• A full TV report covering the Chinese visit on Vremya – 15 May 1989
• Gorbachev visits East Berlin, 17 April 1986
• Mikhail S. Gorbachev's official visit to the UK
• Mikhail Gorbachev in Ireland 1989
• Bush & Gorbachev Malta Summit 1989
• Soviet Union visit Cuba (1989) Anthems
• Soviet Union visit Bulgaria 1985 - Anthems
• President Reagan's Remarks at Arrival Ceremony for Mikhail Gorbachev on 8 December 1987
• Soviet President Arrival Ceremony