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The Geneva Summit of 1985 was a Cold War-era meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It was held on November 19‑21, 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.
| Geneva Summit | |
|---|---|
 Reagan and Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit | |
| Host country |  Switzerland |
| Dates | November 19–21, 1985 (39 years ago) |
| Venue(s) |
|
| Cities | Geneva |
| Participants |  Mikhail Gorbachev Ronald Reagan |
| Follows | Vienna Summit (1979) |
| Precedes | Reykjavík Summit (1986) |
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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]
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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 three 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 | Day two: November 20 | Day three: November 21 |
|---|---|---|
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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.[a][5]: 655
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][10]
Reagan and Gorbachev's second private meeting was held at Fleur d'Eau's pool house, where a fireplace provided the backdrop to a seated Reagan and Gorbachev,[5]: 671 leading some to call Geneva's summit the "fireside summit".[11] Speaking to a group of Maryland students about the summit's second private meeting, Reagan disclosed that he had discussed the topic of aliens with Gorbachev, saying "I couldn't help but say to him, just think how easy his task and mine might be if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe."[12] Reagan explained that his remarks to Gorbachev were meant to further a sense of togetherness, saying "we'd forget all the little local differences that we have between our two countries, and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this Earth together," adding that "I don't suppose we can wait for some alien race to come down and threaten us, but I think that between us, we can bring about that realization."[13] In a 2009 interview, Gorbachev confirmed that during their second private meeting Reagan had 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][14][15] 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.[16] While the walk to the pool house was spent talking about Reagan's films,[5]: 671 the walk back from the pool house saw Reagan and Gorbachev agreeing to continue to meet at further summits.[5]: 677
The main focus of the third plenary meeting was the Strategic Defense Initiative, with Gorbachev insisting that SDI represented a new phase of the arms buildup in space and Reagan insisting that SDI was merely "a shield" against ICBM's.[5]: 700–701 Reagan replied that, where Gorbachev saw a threat, "we saw an opportunity,"[5]: 704 and that both sides first ought to be seeking to reduce offensive arms by 50 percent, since the US would ultimately not "miss the opportunity to develop a defense because of fear that it might have an offensive potential."[5]: 705
Human rights
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."[16]
Much of Reagan and Gorbachev's third private meeting was spent on the subject of human rights,[5]: 689 with Reagan focusing on "the desire of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel," because of the "large Jewish community in the U.S., which had an influence on Congress." Reagan emphasized that "we would express our appreciation for what was done [on emigration]," reiterating that there would be "no hint that this was done as a result of U.S. efforts." Reagan stated that handling emigration in this manner "would make it easier for the President to do the type of things which the two countries could do together, such as in the area of trade, for which the President needed Congressional support."[5]: 690 Gorbachev countered by stating his belief that the issue of human rights was "being used for political purposes, not only by representatives of various political organizations which were anti-Soviet, but also by officials of the U.S. Administration, including the President."[5]: 691 Gorbachev stated that "the fate of Jewish people was of concern to the Soviet government," adding that "after what the Fascists had done to the Jews, the Soviet Union had done everything it could to give them special attention, and it had not regretted doing so."[5]: 692
Gorbachev mentioned what he saw as examples of personal discrimination occurring in the United States, to which Reagan stated that "there were individuals, perhaps employers in factories, with personal prejudices about hiring women, blacks, and so on," but that according to the law, "there can be no discrimination."[5]: 695
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In their joint news conference held on the third day, 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.[17] An agreement on the opening of consulates in Kiev and New York was signed, as well as an agreement to renew regular U.S.‑Soviet dialogue on future summit meetings. Forty‑one cultural exchange agreements were also 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.[16]
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.[16]
After a stop in Brussels to brief allies, Reagan returned to Washington to give an address on the summit to a joint session of Congress.[18]
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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[19] 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 |
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- 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]
- The official record of conversations at the summit shows Reagan returning to the topic of aliens during an impromptu toast at the dinner hosted by the Gorbachevs, when Reagan mentioned recalling his earlier conversation with Gorbachev to Foreign Minister Shevardnadze, where he remarked how "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
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