48. Editorial Note
On April 16, 1987, Secretary of State George Shultz met with President Ronald Reagan at the Western White House in Rancho del Cielo, California. Chief of Staff Howard Baker and President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Frank Carlucci also attended. No formal minutes have been found. In his personal diary entry, Reagan recorded that “about 5:30 Geo. S. arrived to brief on the Moscow trip. Howard & Frank came too & the press covered arrivals & departures. There is reason to believe we may be on the path to some arms reduction.” (Brinkley, ed., The Reagan Diaries, p. 711.)
According to notes of this conversation, Shultz described having been well received by the Soviets and afforded “unprecedented” access. He went on to characterize Shevardnadze as “pugnacious” on Central America while a conversation on the Iran-Iraq war was “positive.” When it came to arms control, he wrote: “We have deal on INF. [The Soviets] have seen our treaty, & they accept verification.” Shultz reported that Gorbachev accepted the inclusion of the SS–12 and the SS–23 as Short-Range Intermediate Nuclear Forces (thus covered by the INF Treaty). (Reagan Library, Carlucci Files, Secretary Shultz (4/16/1987–05/28/1987))
At 6:50 p.m., President Reagan remarked to gathered reporters: “I have just received a full report from Secretary Shultz on his talks in Moscow and his consultations with our allies. And George, as usual, put forward our positions in Moscow with firmness and great skill. It’s clear to me that the visit was very useful in advancing the dialog between our countries in a number of areas—human rights, bilateral relations, regional issues, and the arms reductions.” Asked the question of whether an INF agreement in hand was a prerequisite for a summit that year, Reagan responded: “I think that it—I look forward to and am hopeful that we can have a summit. But it must be one that is carefully planned and prepared and that there must be something that we feel we can accomplish.” (Public Papers: Reagan, 1987, Book II, pp. 381–382)