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| Talks between Mr
Gorbachev and the Prime Minister have been
successful |
| 1984: Gorbachev visit to Britain a
'success' |
England have
Mikhail Gorbachev, the man widely tipped as the next leader of the
Soviet Union, has spent five hours in "very friendly" talks with the
British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, according to British Government
officials.
But Soviet officials described the talks much less enthusiastically as
"business-like".
Topics discussed at Mrs Thatcher's country residence Chequers included
ending the arms war and improving communications between the Eastern Bloc
and the West.
It came after Mr Gorbachev signalled his desire for reduced tensions
when he arrived at Heathrow airport yesterday.
"Opportunities for the prevention of nuclear war exist. These
opportunities must be used to the full," he said yesterday.
But talks between Mrs Thatcher and the second-in-command at the Kremlin
did not include contentious
issues such as human rights in the Communist state.
Official sources remained tight-lipped on the exact exchange of words
but did reveal the two delegations did not agree on the causes of world
problems but were united on the importance of diffusing them.
The meeting lasted longer than expected and it is understood Mr
Gorbachev gave Mrs Thatcher a private message from the country's president
Konstantin Chernenko.
It outlined the Soviet Union's commitment to arms talks with America
which will be held in three weeks' time.
Today's talks appear to signal a thaw in relations between the West and
the Soviet Union.
The visit itself is a significant development in the relationship
between Britain and the USSR as Mr Gorbachev is the first Russian
politician of his stature to visit in 28 years.
His eight day stay is the longest any statesman from behind the iron
curtain has stayed in the West.
Once the talking was over Mr Gorbachev and his wife Raisa have also
enjoyed sightseeing in London, visiting the library from where Lenin first
produced his newspaper in 1903.
The couple, followed by a large security entourage, also visited the
British Library and saw the seat where Karl Marx wrote Das
Kapital.
