Reagan and Gorbachev hold their first summit meeting
For the first time in eight years the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States hold a summit conference.Meeting in Geneva President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev produced no earth-shattering agreements.However the meeting boded well for the future as the two men engaged in long personal talks and seemed to develop a sincere and close relationship.The meeting came as somewhat of a surprise to some in the United States considering Reagans often incendiary rhetoric concerning communism and the Soviet Union but it was in keeping with the presidents often stated desire to bring the nuclear arms race under control.
For Gorbachev the meeting was another clear signal of his desire to obtain better relations with the United States so that he could better pursue his domestic reforms.Little of substance was accomplished.Six agreements were reached ranging from cultural and scientific exchanges to environmental issues.Both Reagan and Gorbachev however expressed satisfaction with the summit which ended on November 21.
The next summit was held in October 1986 in Reykjavik and ended somewhat disastrously with Reagans commitment to the Strategic Defense Initiative (the so-called Star Wars missile defense system) providing a major obstacle to progress on arms control talks.However by the time of their third summit in Washington D.C.in 1987 both sides made concessions in order to achieve agreement on a wide range of arms control issues.
