Summit With Gorbachev News Today

Soviet leader mikhail gorbachev tonight is saying that the war in afghanistan is about to come to an end. >> todays announcement seems to be another indication of how anxious the soviets are to get out of afghanistan, out of a war they have not been able to win, out of a war that has proven too costly to continue. >> because of afghanistan, communism was no longer affordable. the idea of promoting your ideology around the world, defending its interests became too expensive. >> white house offici...

But the soviet leader was more negative. >> translator: the solving of the most important problems concerning the arms race and increasing hopes of piece, we didnt succeed in this meeting. so of course there are important disagreements on matters of principle that remain between us. >> the general feeling here is that president reagan deserves credit for starting a dialogue with soviet leader gorbachev, that, in the nuclear age, any lessening of tension must be applauded. but many pronounced the...

Didnt meet any soviet leaders. when asked about it, reagan said they keep dying on me. well, that was true, but he wasnt really making much of an effort, and there was a fear that if you dont reach out to the soviets, they are so afraid of us, they will do something stupid. >> president reagan had a change of heart. he is now much more eager to meet with the new leader of the soviet union and he has sent mikhail gorbachev a letter suggesting a summit. ♪ ♪ >> all previous summits had a commun...

Mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> it was perfect. it was beautiful. he had to insist on keeping it in the speech. and he did it. dont let anybody tell you it was a staffer or anybody else that did that. >> meanwhile, in the soviet union, gorbachev decides to do something bold and he says lets separate sdi from reducing the nuclear stockpile. once he does this, it opens up the possibility for a third summit. >> this weeks summit may prove especially important, even historic. for the first ti...

Communiques. whatever comes from the summit will be what we develop while were there. >> after 70 minutes with advisers, mr. reagan invited gorbachev to stroll the garden to the pool house where they sat alone before a fire. mr. reagan talked without notes, not about arms control but about of his personal feelings about reducing the level of fear and misunderstanding between the two nations. >> the main thing is they met each other as human beings, reagan, in particular, had concentrated his att...

When he came into office. bret: but nobody, including reagan, could know how close he was to pushing the soviet empire to collapse. >> didnt know at that point that he was going to win the cold war. moscow was still very much a superpower and the equal of the united states. bret: there were whispers, plenty of them that reagan, now 77 years old had, lost his edge. so what to expect from his last summit with gorbachev, three days in moscow. great theater, at the very least. >> the trip to moscow ...

When he came into office. bret: but nobody, including reagan, could know how close he was to pushing the soviet empire to collapse. >> didnt know at that point that he was going to win the cold war. moscow was still very much a superpower and the equal of the united states. bret: there were whispers, plenty of them that reagan, now 77 years old had, lost his edge. so what to expect from his last summit with gorbachev, three days in moscow. great theater, at the very least. >> the trip to moscow ...

The compound is named after him. and people have been putting flowers there. so hes a revered figure. in his remarks in 1999 when the compound was named after him, i took a look at those. he said some moving things. but the one line that stuck for me, he said "i came here and this place became part of my heartbeat." i thought that was -- you know, he just was a remarkable individual in that regard. and it frankly doesnt surprise me, brian, that the russians have this reaction because i happened ...

Great power. he had great power. when i first briefed him in the oval office, the first time i entered that place, rather nervous as a young man, a friend and i were there to brief him before a summit with gorbachev in 1989. he asked us, would you like coffee? i said, yeah. he poured it. and we were sort of stunned. we expected a butler to come in and do that. but he was that kind of person. there was no pretence there. he put you at ease and related to you on a human level, even though he posse...

>> those first couple of years of the reagan first term, reagan didnt meet any soviet leaders. when asked about it, reagan said they keep dying on me. that was true, but he wasnt making much of an effort, and there was a fear that if you dont reach out to the soviets, they are so afraid of us, theyll do something stupid. >> president reagan has had a change of heart. he is now much more eager to meet with the new leader of the soviet union and he has sent mikhail gorbachev a letter suggesting a ...