Geneva summit stirs memories of 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev meet
GENEVA: Tomorrow’s talks between US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin evoke vivid memories of the 1985 Geneva summit, when Cold War rivals Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time. Despite the chilly November weather in the Swiss city, relations began to thaw between Washington and Moscow as the US president and the Soviet leader came face to face on neutral territory.
Now some 36 years on, Biden and Putin are set for decidedly less hopeful talks on the placid shores of Lake Geneva, with the echo of history surrounding them. Back in 1985, “the atmosphere was relaxed... They had both lined something up to seduce the other camp,” said former AFP correspondent Didier Lapeyronie, who covered the Reagan-Gorbachev talks.
“At the same time, we were all aware that it was a historic moment.”
Things got off to a bad start. Just before US president Reagan arrived at one of the summit locations, a Swiss soldier waiting in the ceremonial honor guard fainted, overcome by the bitter cold. Six years before the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, the 1985 Geneva summit focused on de-escalating the nuclear arms race between the two superpowers, and came with hopes of fostering better East-West relations. The three-day summit was covered by 3,500 journalists.
Nicolas Burgy, who was at Geneva Airport for AFP to report on the Reagans’ arrival, recalls the sense of “joy” in the air. “There was a casual sort of feeling,” he said.
Fireside chat
One of the most enduring pictures from the summit is one of the two most powerful men on the planet sitting beside a fireplace, smiling at each other from their armchairs-an image that conjures up the impression of a cozy fireside chat between two old friends. The conviviality extended to their wives Raisa Gorbacheva and Nancy Reagan, who chatted over tea under the gaze of photographers.
Marie-Noelle Blessig, charged with following the wives’ program for AFP, remembers seeing Gorbacheva paying a visit to the United Nations’ Geneva headquarters “to greet staff at the UN, where she was received with loud applause”. Another sign of the thaw was the first handshake between Gorbachev and Reagan, which lasted seven seconds.
The historic moment took place in front of the Villa Fleur d’Eau, a late 19th-century mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva. The villa is currently up for sale.
The handshake took place before frozen photographers and reporters who had stood waiting in the garden in the bitter cold. As the Americans had chosen the large villa for day one of the talks, Reagan was there first to welcome Gorbachev, “seemingly in very good spirits”, said Claude Smadja, a former deputy editor of Switzerland’s TSR television, who witnessed the historic moment. —AFP