Mikhail Sergeevich For the remaining part of this year you as we know have quite an intense schedule of meetings with leaders of a number of non-socialist countries with the Chancellor of Austria Prime Minister of Spain President of Brazil Chancellor of FRG Prime Minister of India A meeting with Mitterand whose request it would be expedient to satisfy is also tentatively suggested Therefore our active policy especially in the European direction taking into account your subsequent return visits to these counties in the next year will find its persuasive implementation However you probably should not let the American affairs drop out of your vision either the electoral campaign in the USA which will culminate on November 8 with the election of a new President is entering its decisive stage In this connection it seems to be extremely important to seek mutual understanding with the new President early before his approach to the Soviet Union is fully formulated From here the issue arises about an extraordinary step about a possible meeting with him before his official inauguration as President on January 21 of the next year Such a meeting could be organized in a natural fashion if you were going to deliver an address in New York at the session of the UN General Assembly in the beginning of December which in itself would be a step of a great political resonance including in its impact on America on the eve of the start of the new administration At that time you could also have a farewell meeting with Reagan which would be useful from the point of view of influencing American public opinion we should not discount the influence on this still popular president on the population even after his departure from the White House A Dobrynin 18 September 1988 Source Archive of the Gorbachev Foundation Fond 2 Translated by Svetlana Savranskaya for the National Security Archive This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu