122. Editorial Note
Following the final plenary session between the U.S. and Soviet delegations the afternoon of November 20, 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan hosted Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and Raisa Gorbachev for dinner at the Maison de Saussure in Geneva, from 8 to 10 p.m. After-dinner conversation among President Reagan, Secretary General Gorbachev, Secretary of State George Shultz, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, and Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Korniyenko focused on the content of the joint communique to be issued the following morning. According to the memorandum of conversation, “Gorbachev said he thought he did not completely understand all the differences with all of the documents, but in any event he spoke to his people to the effect that he wanted everyone to get his act together and somehow iron out these last minute difficulties in regard to these issues. President Reagan said that he and Gorbachev were meeting for the first time at this level. They had little practice, since they had never done it before. Nevertheless, having read the history of previous summit meetings he had concluded that those earlier leaders had not done very much. Therefore, he suggested that he and Gorbachev say, ‘To hell with the past,’ we’ll do it our way and get something done. Gorbachev concurred.” (Reagan Library, Matlock Files, Reykjavik Meeting—Geneva Materials 10/12/1986–10/13/1986 (1)) The memorandum of conversation is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, volume V, Soviet Union March 1985–October 1986, Document 159.
[Page 489]Throughout the night of November 20, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Rozanne Ridgway and Soviet Foreign Ministry official Aleksandr Bessmertnykh negotiated the substance and wording of a joint statement. No formal memorandum of conversation was found. According to Shultz’s memoir, this negotiation lasted until approximately 6:00 a.m. on November 21. (Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, 605) Later that morning, General Secretary Gorbachev and President Reagan delivered remarks to reporters upon issuing the “Joint Soviet-United States Statement on the Summit Meeting in Geneva,” which noted their earlier agreement “to improve U.S.—Soviet relations and the international situation as a whole,” and “to meet again in the nearest future.” The statement also noted: “The President and the General Secretary discussed the negotiations on nuclear and space arms. They agreed to accelerate the work at these negotiations, with a view to accomplishing the tasks set down in the Joint U.S.—Soviet Agreement of January 8, 1985, namely to prevent an arms race in space and to terminate it on earth, to limit and reduce nuclear arms and enhance strategic stability. Noting the proposals recently tabled by the U.S. and the Soviet Union, they called for early progress, in particular in areas where there is common ground, including the principle of 50% reductions in the nuclear arms of the U.S. and the USSR appropriately applied, as well as the idea of an interim INF agreement. During the negotiation of these agreements, effective measures for verification of compliance with obligations assumed will be agreed upon.” (Public Papers: Reagan, 1985, vol. II, pp. 1407–1410)
On November 21, President Reagan flew from Geneva to Brussels to brief North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies on his meetings with Gorbachev, and then to Washington that evening. (Reagan Library, President’s Daily Diary)