What did Reagan refuse to give up at a summit with Gorbachev?

Both sides had agreed on the importance of offensive weapons reduction, but disagreement over Reagan’s proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proved to be an insurmountable obstacle in the negotiations. Reagan offered to share SDI with the Soviet Union, but Gorbachev did not find the offer credible.

What happened when Gorbachev met with Reagan in Iceland?

Reykjavík summit of 1986, meeting held in Reykjavík, Iceland, on October 11 and 12, 1986, between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. The Reykjavík summit almost resulted in a sweeping nuclear arms-control agreement in which the nuclear weapons of both sides would be dismantled.

Did Reagan and Gorbachev get along?

But Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, unusual bedfellows as they may have been, managed to forge not only a mutual respect, but a friendship, which helped end the Cold War. Reagan was initially wary of the kind of leader Gorbachev would be.

Why did Reagan meet with Gorbachev?

Meeting. On November 19, 1985, U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time, in Geneva, to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race.

When did Reagan meet with Gorbachev?

11/19/1985
11/19/1985. C31983-14A, President Reagan’s first meeting with Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev at Fleur D’Eau during the Geneva Summit in Switzerland.

Who did Reagan meet with Gorbachev?

The Reykjavík Summit was a summit meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 11–12 October 1986.

Why did Reagan not respond to Gorbachev’s letter?

At approximately the same time—before receiving Reagan’s letter—Gorbachev sent a letter to Reagan asking that the United States join the USSR in its voluntary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. Agreeing to the moratorium would have halted American development of SDI, and Reagan never responded to this request (Rhodes 213).

Why didn’t Reagan have a better relationship with the Soviet Union?

The chief obstacle to the relationship Reagan wanted with the new Soviet leader was Reagan’s cherished fantasy of a space-based missile-defense program, the Strategic Defense Initiative.

What was Ronald Reagan’s disarmament dream?

Ronald Reagan’s Disarmament Dream. In the run-up to their summit meeting in Geneva in November 1985, the first meeting of American and Soviet leaders in six years, Gorbachev sent Reagan a letter proposing a 50 percent cut in intercontinental ballistic missiles, contingent on a complete ban on space weapons.

What was Gorbachev’s proposal at the Geneva Summit?

In fact, Gorbachev’s proposal was essentially the one he had originally proposed in the run-up to the Geneva summit: a 50 percent cut in the ICBMs that were the core of the Soviet nuclear arsenal and the total elimination of intermediate-range missiles in Europe.