Presidents Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev said farewell Thursday, ending a two-day summit that produced a landmark arms deal and pledges of future cooperation but left lingering questions about economics, the Baltic states and Cuba.
"Compared to the bad old days of the Cold War, we have less in the way of differences than ever and more reason for hope," Bush said in departure ceremonies in glittering St. George's Hall in the Kremlin.Gorbachev said the strategic arms treaty signed Wednesday "has strengthened the world's confidence that common security can be attained and that the Cold War between East and West will never start again."
Before the formal goodbye, Bush met with diplomats at the U.S. Embassy complex, which has been dogged by years of spy scandals and a political impasse over what to do with a nine-story office tower so riddled with Soviet bugging devices that it has stood vacant for years.
He then flew to Kiev, capital of the restive Ukrainian republic, and is to return home tonight aboard Air Force One (story on A2).
During two days of talks in Moscow, Bush restated U.S. concerns about Soviet aid to communist Cuba and reiterated his support for aspirations of the three Baltic republics seeking freedom from Kremlin control.
At the summit, the two presidents signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to reduce their long-range nuclear weapons by a third, and Bush promised he would seek a lowering of tariffs on Soviet exports to the United States.
The superpowers also agreed to increase cooperation in civilian space projects, including exchange flights on the Soviet space station Mir and the U.S. space shuttle.
Gorbachev called the treaty signing "an event of global significance" that would help dismantle "the infrastructure of fear that has ruled the world" since the dawn of the atomic age.
"Our next goal is to make full use of this breakthrough to make disarmament an irreversible process," he said.
The two leaders proclaimed a new era of cooperation on global and regional issues, endorsing efforts by the European Community to find a peaceful solution to civil strife in Yugoslavia.
And they announced that they intend to convene a Middle East peace conference in October to launch negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
"This historic opportunity must not be lost," the presidents said in a joint statement. It was issued even though Israel has not yet said whether it will agree to Bush's terms for the conference.
To iron out remaining wrinkles, Bush sent Secretary of State James Baker to Jerusalem Thursday to try to clear the last hurdle - a dispute over which Palestinian Arabs would attend.
Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh said he would go to Israel soon with documents required to re-establish formal Soviet relations with Israel - conditioned on Israel agreeing to attend the peace conference.
Bush said he was "a little more optimistic" that Israel would attend.
The two presidents stressed future economic cooperation. And although Bush promised the Soviets most-favored-nation trade status lifting tariffs, he lectured his hosts on global market realities.