President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced agreement Thursday to meet again in Washington and Moscow but failed to achieve any solid progress on the critical issue of nuclear arms control.
The two leaders concluded the first U.S.-Soviet summit in six years by issuing a joint statement that in itself signaled some improvement in the temper of relations between the two superpowers.
In the area of peace, security and arms control, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed–in a formulation often used by the American President–that ”a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
They pledged, further, that ”they will not seek to achieve military superiority” over each other.
Reagan and Gorbachev also agreed to ”accelerate the work” of their arms control negotiating teams, which have been getting nowhere in recent months, and they called specifically for ”early progress” on the ”principle” of 50 percent cutbacks in their nuclear arsenals.
Neither the joint statement nor the leaders` separate remarks specifically mentioned Reagan`s Strategic Defense Initiative, or ”Star Wars,” which the Soviet Union bitterly opposes.
However, Gorbachev, in his statement at the final ceremony, twice spoke of the need to keep the arms race from expanding into space.
The two men reached at least some measure of accord on some of the lesser, so-called bilateral issues. They agreed on the opening of new consulates in New York City and Kiev and on the ”utility” of expanded cultural and ”people-to-people” exchanges between their countries.
They also agreed to meet again at the summit ”in the nearest future.”
The joint statement did not spell out details, but it was understood Gorbachev would go to Washington next year and Reagan to Moscow in 1987.
The joint statement was presented at a ceremony at the Geneva International Conference Center.
The two leaders, both clad in blue suits and neckties, shook hands, smiled amiably and sat side-by-side on the stage, with the flags of both nations hung behind them.
Gorbachev, who spoke first, acknowledged that ”we did not succeed” on the most important issue of arms control.
However, he said, he and Reagan had done a ”huge amount of work” and had pledged to do more to end the arms race.
When his turn came, Reagan said he and Gorbachev had ”packed a lot into” their two days together, and he was ”convinced that we are headed in the right direction.”
He said he had come to Geneva to make a ”fresh start” in U.S.-Soviet relations, ”and we have done this.”
Reagan made an indirect but obvious reference to ”Star Wars” when, speaking of the work yet to be done, he asked rhetorically if the two countries would in the future agree to move away from offensive arsenals to
”nonnuclear defensive systems to make this a safer world.”
Both leaders acknowledged that differences remain, and so did their formal joint statement.
The summit sessions here were ”frank and useful,” the statement said, but ”serious differences remain on a number of critical issues.”
Both leaders, as well as the joint statement, took a generally positive view of the summit, however; and the outcome did appear to be at least somewhat more cordial and positive than many had expected before the talks began.
There had been strong doubts before Reagan and Gorbachev arrived here that the two sides would be able even to agree on making a joint statement.
But they finally agreed on the language of one late Wednesday night after a long and suspenseful day of negotiations.
Reagan and Gorbachev met for a total of about 15 hours over 2 days. That included nearly 6 hours of unexpected and unscheduled one-on-one conversation with only their interpreters present.
They held a final brief get-together Thursday morning after the ceremony and toasted their aides with champagne.
In his toast, Gorbachev said they had achieved a ”new start in the right direction” in U.S.-Soviet relations.
All of that time together appeared to signal a more cordial tone than Reagan, a fervent anti-communist throughout his political career, and Gorbachev had been taking toward each other in the months leading up to the summit.
The outcome here also indicated a more general, and potentialy significant, shift in the Soviet attitude about this summit.
They had come here insisting the meeting would be a success only if it produced substantive progress on arms control. At the end, however, the Soviet officials, like Reagan and others on the U.S. side, were saying that the summit had value in improving U.S.-Soviet relations simply by bringing the two leaders together.
Reagan and Gorbachev agreed in their joint statement on the need to improve those relations, and they confirmed the ”importance of an ongoing dialogue” between the two countries.
They said they also had achieved here ”some greater understanding of each side`s view.”
In the matter of peace and security, the two sides recognized that ”any conflict” between them ”could have catastrophic consequences,” and hence they emphasized ”the importance of preventing any war between them.”
The goal of the current arms negotiations here, they said, should be speeded up ”to prevent an arms race in space and to terminate it on earth, to limit and reduce nuclear arms and enhance strategic stability.”
Their joint statement also ”reaffirmed” the commitment of both nations to the existing treaty on nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and their support of a ”general and complete prohibition of chemical weapons and the destruction of existing stockpiles of such weapons.”
They agreed on the need to establish a process of regular contact and dialogue between the two countries and said they intend to expand cultural, educational and scientific-technical exchanges.
They failed to agree on resumption of airline service by Pan American and the Soviet carrier Aeroflot between Moscow and New York but expressed their desire to reach an accord soon.
Their agreement on opening consulates in Kiev and New York is pegged to reaching the airline pact.
They also agreed to instruct their appropriate national agencies to develop programs for expanded people-to-people exchanges and programs including regular sports competitions and TV coverage of sports events.
While both sides appeared publicly pleased with the outcome, they also were cautious about the future.
Reagan described the agreements they had reached as ”useful interim results,” but said real accomplishment must come in ”deeds and not in words.”
”The real report card on Geneva,” he said, ”will not come in for months or even years.”
Reflecting the many hours he and Gorbachev sat before an open fire during their talks here, Reagan tagged the meeting the ”Fireside Summit” and said he was leaving Geneva determined to ”build a safer world of peace and freedom.”
There is a ”lot of hard work ahead,” he said, ”and we`re ready for it.”
Secretary of State George Shultz agreed with Reagan that a ”fresh start” had been achieved, but he noted that how it all turns out ”remains to be seen.”
He said ”Star Wars” had been discussed during the meetings ”in considerable detail and with great intensity on both sides.”
He said Reagan ”feels as strongly as ever” that continued research on SDI is ”essential . . . ; he insists on that . . . there is no give on that.”
Likewise, on the Soviet side, Shultz said, ”Their position did not change.”
A senior U.S. official, pressing the argument that the summit had been a success, said he found it ”astonishing” and ”impressive” that the U.S. had managed to get the Kremlin to agree to a joint statement that did not even mention ”Star Wars,” which was their principal target here.
One issue on which the U.S. apparently failed to move the Kremlin was Afghanistan, which the USSR invaded in 1979 and currently occupies with more than 100,000 troops.
Reagan had publicly declared his intention to press the Kremlin on the issue, but there was no mention of it in the joint statement.
However, a senior U.S. official said he saw the possibility of some
”promise” for movement on the issue. He said he believes the Afghanistan issue may soon be ”treated more intensely and less visibly.”
