Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, will celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Reagan – Gorbachev Summit Meeting in Reykjavík this coming fall. According to Morgunbladid, on October 10th, Gorbachev will give a talk at the University Movie Theater, Háskólabíó. The event is open to the public and ticket sales start in the next few weeks. Gorbachev will discuss 21st century leadership, peace, the historical significance of and his memories from the Reykjavík Summit Meeting.
At the meeting in 1986, Gorbachev and Reagan discussed reducing intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe which led to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 1987.
It is not known who had the original idea of holding the summit meeting in Reykjavík, both Reagan and Gorbachev wanted to take credit for the idea. It is believed that the Soviets were first to contact the Icelandic government which caused the US government some grief. According to news station NFS, there had been an agreement that the two countries would jointly contact the Icelandic government.
