10 October 2016
Mikhail Gorbachev’s Address to Participants in the International Conference The Legacy of the Reykjavik SummitToday is the final day of the international conference taking place in Reykjavik to mark the 30th anniversary of the US-Soviet Summit that took place in 1986 in the capital of Iceland. At the summit, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan started discussing the need to stop the nuclear arms race.
Although no specific agreements were signed at the meeting, the Reykjavik Summit became a “breakthrough”, citing the words of Mikhail Gorbachev. For the first time in history, the leaders of the two nuclear powers sincerely spoke about the need to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction.
The historic summit in Reykjavik can set an example for today’s political leaders as they try to put international affairs back on a normal track: we need to resume dialogue; we need to re-focus on our key priorities.
Mikhail Gorbachev addressed the conference through a video message.
First of all, I want to thank the government of Iceland for invitation to participate in the conference marking the 30th anniversary of the Reykjavik summit of the leaders of the USSR and the United States.
I extend greetings to veterans of international politics and diplomacy, eminent scientists and respected experts who have gathered in the capital of Iceland.
You have gathered at a crucial moment. In moments like this, we keenly feel the continuity of time, as the past engages in dialogue with the present and the future. Therefore, this date is not only an occasion to remember this historic event but also an opportunity for serious reflection on what to do in our troubled times.
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The XXI century will be a сentury either of total all-embracing crisis or of moral and spiritual healing that will reinvigorate humankind. It is my conviction that all of us - all reasonable political leaders, all spiritual and ideological movements, all faiths - must help in this transition to a triumph of humanism and justice, in making the XXI century a century of a new human renaissance.
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Русский |
