7198 T THE WHITE HOUSE WASH I NGTO N MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT Telcon with Mikhail Gorbachev President of the USSR PARTICIPANTS The President Mikhail Gorbachev USSR President Interpreter Dmitri Zarechnak Notetaker Ed A Hewett NSC Staff DATE TIME AND PLACE September 27 1991 9 22 - 9 50 am Oval Office The President Mikhail how are you President Gorbachev George hello very much want to talk U U I received your letter I The President Good First I want to extend my cordial best wishes I would like to go through the talking points and get a reaction to them President orbachev OK In general I discussed them with my colleagues from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and asked them to give me a preliminary analysis I listened to the experts This is a major initiative of the President of the United States That is my opinion and that of my closest associates There is only one thing you are doing this unilaterally and you call on us to consider our steps Is that right The President Yes Correct We'll spell out what we do In some categories we'll spell out how the Soviet Union could take similar steps For example we cancel ICBM's except for single warheads and would like to say that the Soviet Union is doing the same thing er On dismantling nuclear warheads where I propose we open discussions on the safe dismantling of nuclear warheads on how we might enhance the safety and security of nuclear weapons and how to improve nuclear command and control I'd like to say you and I agree that this would be a good thing to do Declassify on OADR DECLASSIFIED PER E Ou 12958 2 b - Of2 1-F ' t' t IUJ From the forthcoming book THE LAST SUPERPOWER SUMMITS by Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton New York Budapest CEU Press 2012 SEGRGBP President Gorbachev George thank you for those clarifications Since you're urging that we take steps I can only give an answer in principle -- since there is much that must be clarified -- and that answer is a positive one kS The President I understand How about if I say that I've consulted with Mikhail Gorbachev and although he has had no time to study my initiative that I am inclined to believe his response will be positive President Gorbachev I think that will be very good I wanted to say that since you'll be talking at 8 30 our time I could go on our news program Vremia at 9 00 mention that we've talked and then on that program give a positive response $r The President There's just one complication I won't give the speech now until 8 00 p m our time -- 3 00 a m your time I changed that because we wanted to be on prime time so that the majority of the American people could hear it kef President Gorbachev The President OK then I'll respond tomorrow Very good iC U President Gorbachev There are certain points on which I have some questions First we hope that we will get more detailed information from you on each point Is that agreed kS-t The P esident Absolutely President Gorbachev Do you have any intention to include other nuclear powers in this process Are you calling on them to get involved k 1 The President I consulted with Major and Mitterand I haven't asked them to be involved We will take the lead It is certainly our intention to consult further with them k81 The response from Major and Mitterand with whom I talked just a few minutes ago was certainly very positive But I am not calling on them to do something now This is more a U S -Soviet superpower relationship $ President Gorbqchev That's clear In connection with your farreaching proposals is the question of nuclear testing included It was one situati n when we had many nuclear systems and pr6grams Not that you are contemplating major reductions perhaps you consider moves on testing 1 The President We're reluctant on testing Clearly we will consider the effect of our proposals on testing We are not talking here about testing and we will need to be in contact on that Clearly it will raise the issue in the U S and el sewhere We will need to consult on that From the forthcoming book THE LAST SUPERPOWER SUMMITS by Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton New York Budapest CEU Press 2012 GBPECPET SEQREI President Gorbachev OK George Another point which was not clear to us does your initiative affect carrier-based arms control and the strategic-based nuclear naval fleet The President Carrier based nuclear forces definitely yes The strategic fleet is not affected Land-based navy planes will have their nuclear weapons removed from them and from their bases I1i1 President Gorbachev OK thank you In conclusion I would like to know your view on the following question What forum can we use to clarify the points that arise about tpe u s initiative When you were here we talked of setting up a group to discuss strategic stability Maybe that group is the appropriate one to clarify all remaining questions The President That's an interesting idea I like that Let me get back to you soon It should be broader than just military but obviously the military should be comfortable with this President Gorbachev OK Thank you I want again to congratulate you on this major proposal It is a historic initiative comparable to Rejkavik The President I also wanted to run it by Yel'tsin I don't know where he is He was on vacation but I don't know where he is now We sent him the information I would like to do the courtesy of calling him If we miss him tell him we tried President Gorbachev OK I'll do that George I also want to say that I appreciated meeting with Jim and discussing with Brady the U S financial system The President Thank you for the courtesy of receiving them We're urgently trying to follow up on those conversations President Gorbachev Thanks I sent today information to Major for the G-l including detailed data on the situation of our balance of payments debt and our possibilities He will be in touch with you to give the information on my behalf The President OK I look forward to seeing it pleased at your positive response I am very President Gorbachev I'm sure I glad to hear of your significant initiative Raisa sends her best to Barbara U The President Thank you and thank you for sending that fascinating tape I looked at it with interest Thank you President Gorbachev Thank you for the flag reflection of that troubled time U U That too is a End of Conversation 5ECTU T From the forthcoming book THE LAST SUPERPOWER SUMMITS by Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton New York Budapest CEU Press 2012 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