Sold – Bush Reports a Breakthrough at the Malta Summit That Ended the Cold War

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took over as Communist Party General Secretary of the Soviet Union. He was a reformer who wanted to implement changes to improve the Soviet economy, and this could only be accomplished by cooling down the temperature of the Cold War. As this program moved forward, the subject countries in the Soviet bloc saw an opportunity and grassroots organizations, such as Poland’s Solidarity movement, rapidly gained ground. In 1989, the Communist governments in Poland and Hungary became the first to negotiate the organizing of competitive elections. In Czechoslovakia and East Germany, mass protests unseated entrenched Communist leaders. The Communist regimes in Bulgaria and Romania also crumbled, in the latter case as the result of a violent uprising. The tidal wave of change culminated with the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, which ended the Iron Curtain divide of Europe.

…It produced a major breakthrough for improved US – USSR relations.

The Malta Summit between Gorbachev and President George H. W. Bush was convened at this precise juncture, and took place December 2-3, 1989. It proved to be the most important summit since 1945, when Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed on a post-war plan for Europe at Yalta. Its main purpose was to provide the two superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union – with an opportunity to discuss the rapid changes taking place in Europe with the lifting of the Iron Curtain. During the summit, the leaders pledged mutual cooperation and stated that their relationship would be characterized by peace, without the threat of war.

The BBC hailed the summit thusly: “The leaders of the two world superpowers, the USA and the USSR, have declared an end to the Cold War after two days of storm-lashed talks at the Malta summit.” At a joint news conference held on board the Soviet cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, the two men announced they had set the stage for big reductions in troops and weapons in Europe. The Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, also said: “I assured the President of the United States that I will never start a hot war against the USA.” For his part, US President George Bush said: We can realise a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship to one of enduring co-operation. That is the future that Chairman Gorbachev and I began right here in Malta.’”

Autograph Letter Signed as President on specially made Malta Summit letterhead, December 1989, to White House staffer Ron Wade. “This ‘sea sick’ Malta Summit was held in bad weather but it produced a major breakthrough for improved US – USSR relations.”