 Я просто закончил встречу с СССР Министер Шевернацией. И Шевернацией присоединил мне к мне от Горбача, который принял меня, чтобы в Вашингтон начать с 7 декабря. В то время мы expect to sign an agreement eliminating the entire class of U.S. and Soviet Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces, or INF. In his letter, General Secretary Gorbachev set forth his views of other arms reductions topics that should be discussed during that meeting and indicated the Foreign Minister head authority to agree on the agenda and duration of the meeting. I am studying that letter carefully and it appears forthcoming in statesmen like and I welcome it. In our discussions, Foreign Minister Shevernazzi and I reviewed the status of outstanding issues incident to completing an INF agreement and discussed progress in Geneva. The remaining details while technical are important in ensuring effective verification of any agreement. Verification remains a major concern of the United States and our proposals will result in the most comprehensive verification regime in history. We also reviewed recent developments in other negotiations as well and I stressed the importance I place on reaching an agreement on reducing strategic offensive arms by 50%. In particular, I emphasize that we seek a formal verifiable treaty and do not believe either nation should settle for anything less. We agreed to work towards such an agreement which I hope to sign during a visit to Moscow next year. Foreign Minister Shevernazzi and I also discussed the general state of relations between our two countries. We agreed that in addition to arms reductions a meeting between myself and the General Secretary should deal with the whole range of issues that concern us including bilateral, regional and human rights issues. Секретарь Шелтс and Mr. Shevernazzi will continue their discussions this afternoon and I'm very pleased with the results of my discussion today. A formal announcement on behalf of the two governments will be forthcoming shortly. I'm looking forward to welcoming Mr. Gorbachev to Washington and to productive discussions with him that will advance the U.S. agenda of peace and freedom. Now I have time for just a few questions because the gentlemen with me have not had lunch yet. What caused Gorbachev to have a change of heart? Why is he more comfortable in coming in December? And how long will the visit last and will it go beyond Washington? Well, I don't know about the term of the visit. I think it will be simply for that conference because he has some scheduling problems too just as we do here. But as to the other things there, I can't say I don't know that there was... You don't know why he changed his mind? Well, there has never been to my knowledge any negative from him back in Geneva in our first meeting. We agreed to two more summits and the first one to be here and the second one to be there. And... I thought he said it wasn't comfortable coming to Washington at this time. Well, he seems to be, yes. You talked about 50% reductions on strategic weapons. Do you think as a result of the letter from General Secretary Gorbachev that there is some movement possible on strategic defense that would make the other kinds of productions possible? Are they still linked? Not in the sense of making one a condition for the other. All of these things are going to be discussed between our people, but I've made it clear that there's no... I've not rejected this, that there's no way that we can give up SDI, which we believe is offering an opportunity for peace for the world. Are you saying that there could be reductions on the missile side without progress on strategic defense? Well, we think we've made some progress on strategic defense in that it is no longer put down as a flat demand. Президент, there have been some indications from the administration in recent days that there is some flexibility on the deployment schedule for your strategic defense initiative. Could this come into play in your discussions? This would be one of the things that would be discussed. There are some things that we've agreed to discuss about that, but... So you think it's possible that could help you get an agreement on strategic missiles? Yes. Президент, if I heard you correctly, you seem to be talking about the fact that there are still some remaining details, including someone's verification to be completed. Am I correct? Have you announced a summit and the fact that you will sign an INF agreement, but in fact it isn't done yet? I think that will be taken care of in a statement that will be given to you shortly after I take one more question, and then I have to go. These gentlemen have to go, but there is being released a joint communique that will answer a number of these questions. Президент, в том числе, every I is dotted, every T is crossed. Ну, I don't think we should say that. It's not done, but if it doesn't get done, Mr. Chevronazzi and I are going to get kicked in the rear-end very hard by our leaders. Yes. Президент, some conservatives are already saying that this is nothing but a PR summit and that signing this INF treaty is going to endanger Europe this week during the Republican debate. The majority of the candidates from your own party were against the INF treaty. Президент, с such trouble convincing your old friends that this is a good deal. I think there's a great deal of misunderstanding, having to do with our relationship with our European allies and all of that. I can only assure you that none of us feel that way. We believe that we're leaving a situation that is equal between our two countries, with the things yet to be tied down and in verification and so forth. And, as I say, I have great confidence in it. Could we perhaps ask our minister, Chevronazzi, to explain what appears to much of the Western world within a flip-flop by Mr. Gorbachev in the course of the last week? We have promised him that he would not be answering any questions in here now because they still have further meetings to go. Thank you very much. And as I say, they haven't had lunch yet and I feel sorry for them. Helen, it must be ESP. Do you know that I hadn't even thought about that until we were sitting in the cabinet room in this recent meeting and I thought to myself, wouldn't it be wonderful if Pearl Harbor Day would become superseded by the day that we began the path to peace and safety in the world and to disarmament? Ну, maybe that could be another meeting that he would come purely for that purpose and I would still like to do that. Just as I know, when we discussed these two meetings in Geneva, he suggested that there might be things in the Soviet Union that he would like to show me. Продолжение следует. Продолжение следует...