Washington Summit (1990)
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The Washington Summit of 1990, also known as the "Two Plus Four" talks, was an international summit in the history of the Cold War in which the United States and Germany gained the Soviet Union's support for the reunification of Germany by agreeing that NATO needed to be reformed. As part of this effort, US President George H. W. Bush called for a NATO summit to reform the organization and demonstrate NATO's willingness to present a different approach to the Soviet Union.[1] As part of his efforts to improve relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, Bush proposed a bilateral summit in Washington to Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, in addition to the NATO summit. Gorbachev agreed to the proposal, which resulted in the Washington Summit of 1990.
Washington Summit | |
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Host country | United States |
Date | May 30-June 3, 1990 |
Venue(s) | White House, Camp David |
Cities | Washington, D.C. |
Participants | Mikhail Gorbachev George H. W. Bush |
Overall, the Washington Summit increased Bush's familiarity with the Soviet Union's domestic struggles, resulted in an agreement on trade between the two countries, and included talks about the arms race. However, there were no breakthroughs in Germany or its reunification process.[2] As a result, the Washington Summit gave the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union the opportunity to debate a number of crucial topics and look for methods to enhance bilateral ties. Even though there were no significant breakthroughs, the summit improved intercultural understanding and opened the door for future communication and collaboration.