254. Editorial Note
On December 10, 1987, President Ronald Reagan hosted Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in a noon meeting in the White House Oval Office followed by a working luncheon in the Family Dining Room that lasted until 2:10 p.m. “After initial pleasantries,” President Reagan “opened by saying that he’d had a chance to review the joint statement,” and “understood that working delegations were now focused on the START and Defense and Space portions of the statement, and suggested that we get a report.” Gorbachev replied that “meetings were now in progress between Marshal Akhromeyev and Mr. Nitze,” and that while they were working “he and the President could have some further decisions of regional issues.” The President agreed. (Memorandum of Conversation, December 10, 1987; [Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S-IRM Records, Memoranda of [Page 1139] Conversations Pertaining to United States and USSR Relations, 1981–1990, Lot 93D188, Washington Summit, 12/87]) The memoranda of their conversations are printed in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. VI, Soviet Union, October 1986–January 1989, Documents 114–115.