 Ladies and gentlemen, friends, as we celebrate the new year I am glad to address the citizens of the United States of America and to convey to you seasons greetings and best wishes from all Soviet people. The first of January is a day when we take stock of the past year and try to look ahead into the coming year. The past year, 1987, ended with an event which can be regarded as a good omen. In Washington, President Reagan and I signed the treaty on the elimination of intermediate and short-arranged missiles. That treaty marks the first step along the path of reducing nuclear arms, and that is its enduring value. But the treaty also has another merit. It has brought our two peoples closer together. We are entering the new year with a hope for continued progress, progress towards a safer world. We are ready to continue fruitfully the negotiations on reducing strategic arms with a view to signing a treaty to that effect even in the first half of this year. We would like without delay to address the problem of cutting back drastically conventional forces and arms in Europe. We are ready for interaction in resolving other problems, including regional ones. I think it can be said that one of the features of the past year was the growing mutual interest our two peoples took in each other. Contacts between Soviet and American young people, war veterans, scientists, teachers, astronauts, businessmen, and cultural leaders have expanded greatly. Thousands of strands, those contacts are beginning to weave into what I would call a tangible fabric of trust and growing mutual understanding. It is the duty of Soviet and American political leaders to keep in mind the sentiment of the people in their countries and to reflect their will in political decisions. The Soviet people are getting down to work in the new year with an awareness of their great responsibility for the present and for the future. There will be profound changes in our country along the lines of continued perestroika, democratization, and radical economic reform. In the final analysis, all this will let us move on to a broad avenue of accelerated development. We know that you Americans have quite a few problems, too. In grappling with those problems, however, I feel that both you and we must remember what is truly crucial. Human life is equally priceless, whether in the Soviet Union, the United States, or in any other country. So let us spare no effort to affirm peace on Earth. Ladies and gentlemen, during the official departure ceremony in Washington, I said with regret that on that visit I had had little chance to see America. I feel, however, that I did understand what is most important about the American people, and that is their enormous stock of goodwill. Let me assure you that Soviet people, too, have an equally great stock of goodwill. Putting it to full use is the most noble and responsible task of government and political leaders in our two countries. If they could only do that, what is but a dream today would come true. A lasting peace and end to the arms race, wider-ranging trade, cooperation in combating hunger, disease, and environmental problems, and progress in ensuring human rights and resolving other humanitarian issues. May the coming year of 1988 become an important milestone as we move down that road. In concluding this new year address to the people of the United States of America, I wish peace, happiness, and joy to every American family. A happy new year to all of you.