Reagan, Gorbachev and Iceland

Reykjavik, October 12th, 1986: "After the break, the president of USA Ronald Reagan said he had been sorry to keep the General Secretary of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, waiting so long, but Gorbachev knew the trouble Americans had getting along even with each other."

The president continued by saying that he had spent this time trying very hard to meet the General Secretary's desire for a ten-year declaration. This had to be his final effort. The president then read the following text:

"The USSR and the United States undertake for ten years not to exercise their existing right of withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, which is of unlimited duration, and during that period strictly to observe all its provisions, while continuing research, development and testing which is permitted by the ABM Treaty. Within the first five years of the ten-year period (and thus through 1991), the strategic offensive arms of the two sides shall be reduced by 50 percent. During the following five years of that period, the remaining 50 percent of the two sides' offensive ballistic missiles shall be reduced. Thus by the end of 1996, all the offensive ballistic missiles of the USSR and the United States will have been totally eliminated."

These are someof the words coming straight from notes kept during the meeting Ronald Reagan had with Michael Gorbachev in Reykjavic 20 years ago. And in the last issue of the Ovi magazine there is an article talking about this strange aniversary!