296. Editorial Note
On April 20, 1988, Secretary of State George Shultz traveled to Helsinki, where he met with Finnish President Mauno Koivisto. The next morning, he flew to Moscow, where he met with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze from 9:50 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to discuss President Ronald Reagan’s upcoming visit to Moscow to meet with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Shevardnadze stated that “the Secretary’s visit assumed acute importance in the context of seizing the opportunity provided by the upcoming summit to conclude an agreement on reducing strategic arsenal by fifty percent, and to resolve certain other problems.” “If the ministers reached the conclusion that no START agreement would be possible by the summit,” Shevardnadze went on to say, “they would have to explain why.” Shultz responded by thanking Shevardnadze for his comments, and calling on bilateral working groups to discuss outstanding disagreements over strategic arms and defense and space for the duration of the ministerial. (Memorandum of Conversation, April 21; Department of State, Executive Secretary, S/S-IRM Records, Memoranda of Conversations Pertaining to United States and USSR Relations, 1981–1990, Lot 93D188, Moscow—4/88—Shultz—Shevardnadze)(declass) The memorandum of conversation is printed in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. VI, Soviet Union, October 1986–January 1989, Document 144. Following a break for lunch, Shultz and Shevardnadze and delegations met again from 3:30–5:15 p.m. to discuss the Middle East. The memorandum of conversation is printed in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. VI, Soviet Union, October 1986–January 1989, Document 145.