President Bush welcomed Mikhail S. Gorbachev to the White House Thursday for summit talks, pledging an "open and honest search for common ground" on tough issues ranging from arms control to the shape of a united Germany in the post-Cold War era.
American and Soviet flags flew side by side as Gorbachev arrived for the four-day summit sessions. Vexed by turmoil at home, he said he'd come to the United States to do "serious work" on reducing nuclear weapons and tackling other issues that divide the two nations.He foresaw an "irreversible period of peace," and said, "The trenches of Cold War are disappearing; the fog of prejudice, mistrust and animosity is vanishing."
Bush blended praise for Gorbachev with mention of Lithuania and other issues that divide them: "Over the next four days we're not going to solve all of the world's problems . . . We can and will take significant steps toward a new relationship." He urged Gorbachev to open a significant dialogue with the independence-minded Baltic republics.
In veiled terms, both men referred to what was shaping up as the thorniest issue of the four-day summit - the unification of Germany. Bush is looking for an approach that will fold a new Germany into the Western NATO alliance - and yet settle Gorbachev's fears for Soviet security.
To begin the meetings, Bush ordered an elaborate welcoming ceremony, complete with a cannon salute, a review of an honor guard and a marching fife and drum corp dressed in revolutionary-era attire. First Lady Barbara Bush and Raisa Gorbachev stood side by side while their husbands spoke.
A small collection of demonstrators set up camp in Lafayette Square across the street from the White House under the watchful eye of authorities. The groups included Vietnamese refugees demanding democracy for their homeland, a self-described former Soviet political prisoner, and a group calling attention to AIDs.
The welcoming ceremonies complete, Bush showed Gorbachev the way into the Oval Office for their first negotiating session, attended by note-takers and translators for each side. A second round of talks was set for late afternoon.
Gorbachev was using the lunch break to meet with a cross-section of American thinkers and performers - a group ranging from Kissinger to Sinatra.
Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze were meeting, too, and a few blocks away at the State Department, experts on both sides worked on the nitty gritty of arms control negotiations.
Treaties and lesser agreements covering arms control, chemical weapons, air travel and other subjects were in various stages of readiness as the summit began.