MEMORANDUl C 0 ' CONVERSATlm ' f' ' lIGAt -c ORBACHEV MBETINGS IN GENEVA r ovember 198 Dinner Hosted by the Gorbachevs Dl TE November 19 ' 985 TIME 8 00 P M - 10 30 P M PLACE Villa at Soviet Mission Geneva Switzerland PARTICIPANTS United States President Reagan 1'1rs Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz Chief of Slaff Donald Regan Robert C McFarlane Assistant to the President for National 2ecurity J JT bassaor - - · thur HartmaTl Mrs E Interpreter Willian· Hopkins Interpreter of Soviet Socialist Republics General Secret ary Gorbachev Mrs Gorbacheva Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze First Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Korniyenko Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin Ambassador Andrei M Aleksandrov-Agentov Mr P Palazhchenko Interpreter At the beginning of the dinner General Secretary Gorbachev announced that he had invited President Reagan to come to the Declassify OADR - 'f p% -0i 1 ' #11 1 1 1 inie tc c G r'resioE- - ' LFcce ' hi ' F · tencec cT ir ' itc tior CC'IT'C teo C S- r I-icth hac oeseptee but no that pcint the la6ieE announced that te· they tC1C had an to each other to come to their res ective cc untries There 'as much iokinc to the effect could come alone if could not make it Wher the caviar was served President Reagan spoke of sturgeon in the Sacramento River and Gorbachev told Mrs Reagan of the building of hydroelectric dams on the Volga which had decimated much of the beluga in the Caspian Sea They had made some mistakes he said but now they were rectified and the fish were thriving Mrs Reagan asked Gorbachev about tourism in the Soviet Union and he told her at length about the Soviet tourist industry how it was being built up and expanded and at the end joked about the fact that tourism not only builds international understanding but brings foreign currency into the Soviet Union hddressing himsel to Mrs Reagan and Mr McFarlane Gorbache spoke of Russian history about the fact that Russia had acted as a buffer zone for Europe throughout the centuries Russia itself was invaded by the Mongols of Central Asia and therefore he said I1S cratch a Russian and find a Tartar II Be- cause RusFia had beer Europe's buffer 'he said it had fallen behind It hac experienced many invasions from the Mongols to Kapoleon not to mention two world wars Nevertheless Russia has always been able to recuperate from her wounds and build up her stren9tr Durinc the course of the dinner perhaps to encoura e his quests' appetite Gorbechev quoted the Russian cientist Timirvazev who said that 000 was the closest man could come to comwith nature Mrs Gorbachev said that playwrights were very popular in the Soviet Union especially 'Tennessee Williams and Albee The Gorbachevs had recently' seen a Moscow production of Who's Afraid of Virqinia Wolf and argued at the table about who had given the better portrayal -- Elizabeth Taylor or the Russian actress Mrs Reagan asked about the Sovipt film industry and was told by Korniyenko about the many film studios in various parts of the country Three of the largest are in Moscow - BeitEl 7'SENSl't'fvE -- ' - - Et -qcn askec about oruq ir tho Sc ' iet Ur'ic· c nc tc 'c thct the druc problem vieS vE ry smalJ iL the Soy' et Gorbachev then tclf that his anti-alcoholism campaign v as c huge success anc enjoyec great support as Coffee and ice parlors ere Lecomin9 tures bec£use people appear to be mere than hard liquor He said that he had thought et the beginnins of the campaign that moonshine production would increase however they found that since the beginning or the campaign the consumption of sugar has actually gone down He explained that large amounts of SUGar were used in distilling a home brew Apparently such activity was not being indulged in Mrs Reagan and Gorbachev spoke of their respective families and Gorbachev said it was his belief that the family was the foundation of society He felt that there was a risk now of that foundation eroding Too many people were living together without benefit of marriage and there were too many singleparent families especially among European Russians This was not the case in Central Asia he said where the average family had 5-6 children and two and even three generations al live together in one house He said that he meant to speak about family values at the next Party Congress IMPRONPTU TOASTS General Secretarv Gorbachev's Remarks Genera Secretar ' Gorbachev rose and remarked that he 'as happy to have everyone here together and there would certainly be no speeches at this dinner However he said he wanted at this table this evening 'here suet a 100C atmosphere reigned tc welcome the President and Mrs Reagan Reagan remarkec to the Soviet interpreter that the Secretarv had referred to her as He welcomed President Reagan and his American colleagues to the Soviet Mission on this little bit of the Soviet Union He said that everyone present knew the reason why they were in Geneva Yet he said the fact that they had relaxed a little bit at this dinner did not mean that they would neglect the reasons why they had come here He added that his purpose in rising to speak was not to bring 'up the seriousness of the reasons why they were in Geneva He said that first he simply wanted to gf' eeE his guests very cordially - - -· - - - - - n€ hE t ir tE-l-y' S Y f' ·2 E -Jc ppy to et with hiE guests he expressed the hope that it v'oulc be pcssible to achieve the kip c 0 understap dinq anc spirit in which it would be possible to discuss people probl eF-'S hac passed and only He noted that one day of the one day was left He said wanted to recall a line from the Bible to express the soviet side's desire as to how the meetings should qo The Biblical was to the effect that there is a time to throw stones anG there is a time to gather them now is the time to gather stones which have been cast in the past The seven years in which there were no between the Presidents of the United States and the General Secretaries of the Soviet union were filled with considerable changes in the world It would be possible to describe and explain what happened in the world during that time and much could be said by way of explanation More important than that however is the lesson of those times namely that the President and the General Secretary must meet and talk about where the two countries are and how they view each other and how the two countries intend to build their relations in this many-faceted world of ours He said that the current dav was waning and in a positive atmosphere at that He r oted that the participants had laid out their positions on a broad range of problems of concern to the USSR and the U E and to a l of the nations of the world He said he bad noticed the word responsibility used frequently in relation to this meeting He said both the President and be understood that the use of that word in itself the they bore as world leaders He that as far c the futurE is it can be built if it iB built by the two countries together That can be done despite all of the countries' differences and the depth of those differences -- that been visible even in the discussions held todav -- because tbe process of movina toward each other through this method of meetings had begun it was necessary to continue the process of moving forward He said that it was true that one cartoonist had sent him a cartoon which showed him and President Reagan standing on the two sides of the abyss On one side was President Reagan and on the other side was Gorbachev Reagan calls to Gorbachev across the abyss Gorby I am prepared to go my part of the way and Gorby says to Reag8n Come ahead Joking aside he said if the two le-aders giJ their part of the way together they will not end up in the abyss finally but rather with a higher degree of --- - - - ---- - 1 G 0utloo tiJe t y i11 relations hE' ba si f 0 t hE long-terrI He that there are certain questions without whose it would be difficult to leave Geneva and he recalled ttE Nebel prize winner's letter saying that he and the should stay in Geneva as long as necessary to resolve the auestions of war and peace He said he thouaht at that rate-they would be there Christmas He that seriously there were problems which would require thinking and an approach f those questions are not addressed it will be difficult to go on and there will be more accusations and recrimination It is evident that the people of the world are sick and tired of the mutual accusations and recriminations the U S and the USSR addressed at each other He said that he could not say for sure that the sides would reach agreement in the course of the current meetings even if they wor ed all night He jokingly suggested that all the others ought to work all night He suggested that jokes aside he and the President should nevertheless continue to work to accomplish the necessary goals He said he wished to raise a toast to the President to Nancy Reagan and to the U S people whom the Soviet people regard so highly he wished to drink to the success of the current talks to an improvement in U S -Soviet relations and to the resolution of outstanding problems between the sides President Reecan's Response In to General President Rea9ar said that the Gorbachevts remarks delegation was pleased tc be here in Geneva on this mission He said that while the GEneral Secretary was speaking he had been thinking of various problems being discussed at the talks He said that previous to the General Secretary's remarks he had been telling Foreign Minister Shevardnadze who was seated to the President's right that if the people of the world were to find out that there was some alien life form that was going to attack the Earth approaching on Halley's Comet then that knowledge would unite all the peoples of the world Further the President observed that General Secretary Gorhachev -hird eite-a a Biblical quotation and the President also alluding to the Bible pointed out that Acts 16 refers to £ Fl€F ET 7' SE N I- l'IVE the fLct that are 211 cf ons livE on thE- Ear tI t or c we shoulc never fc rs et of where The President auote6 Theodore Roosevelt to the effect that the teue goal 0 is peace with self respect Theodore Roosevelt loved hiF ceople as the current U S President and General Secretary iheirs and Roosevelt believed in peace and security for his people although some of his detractors would construe that to mean that there was something militaristic in his attitude Yet despite some such negative attitudes about him he had been the first person to win the Nobel Prize for peace and that was specifically for his efforts devoted to ending the Russo-Japanese War The President pointed out that there was something else significant about this particular time and this particular occaSlon It was exactly 43 years ago on this date that the Soviet Army had begin the counterattack at Stalingrad which had actually turned the war around The President suggested that this 43rd anniversary of that event could also be the beginning of yet another turning point for all mankind -- one that would make it possible to have a world of peace and freedom The President raised his glass to the General Secretary and Mrs Gorbachev to the Soviet people to peace freedom to-our great nations and to the peoples of the world -- that they may have a world of peace and freedom Gorbachev Family The GCebachevs have been married one year lonaer than the Reagans Their daughter a doctor wrote her thesis in medical school on the effectF of alcohol on the human system Their son-in-law is a surgeon Their daughter son-in-law and granddaughter live with Gorbachev said that he was a man of conservative values when it came to keeping the family together Their granddaughter who will be six in January knows all of the world leaders he said She watches the news broadcasts and periodically asks where Mrs Thatcher is going now Mrs Gorbachev added that the granddaughter watches two TV programs Good Night Children and Vremya a news broadcast Gorbachev said that he and Mrs Gorbachev had taken two apparently private vacations to Italy and France They toured each country I y C'ar for 21 days IT £ t016 tc the Crime - Mrs with he 0randdaughter They visthe palace ancient khan where learned that the khan ha6 200 wives Upon her return to Moscow the granddaughter asked Gorbachev why the khan had 200 wives and he only ha6 one Gorbachev replied that the khan did not have a single philosopher among his wives and he did not· know what to 00 with the sincle one he had Prepared by Eugenia Arensburger and William Hopkins Department of State