Geneva:
Wednesday’s talks involving US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin evoke vivid memories of the 1985 Geneva summit, when Cold War rivals Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for the really initial time.
The November climate in the Swiss city may possibly have been chilly, but relations started to thaw involving Washington and Moscow as the US president and the Soviet leader came face to face on neutral territory.
Now some 36 years on, Biden and Putin are holding decidedly much less hopeful talks on the placid shores of Lake Geneva, even as history weighs on them.
Back in 1985, “the atmosphere was relaxed… They had both lined something up to seduce the other camp,” mentioned former AFP correspondent Didier Lapeyronie, who covered the Reagan-Gorbachev talks.
“At the same time, we were all aware that it was a historic moment.”
And but the encounter was preceded with what could have been an ill omen. Just just before US president Reagan arrived at one of the summit places, a Swiss soldier waiting in the ceremonial honour guard fainted, overcome by the bitter cold.
Six years just before the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, the 1985 Geneva summit focused on de-escalating the nuclear arms race involving the two superpowers, and came with hopes of fostering far better East-West relations.
The 3-day summit was covered by 3,500 journalists.
Nicolas Burgy, who was at Geneva Airport for AFP to report on the Reagans’ arrival, recalls the sense of “joy” in the air.
“There was a casual sort of feeling,” he mentioned.
Fireside chat
One of the most enduring photos from the summit is a photograph of the two most potent males on the planet sitting beside a fireplace and smiling at each and every other from their armchairs in what could be a cosy fireside chat involving two old buddies.
The conviviality extended to their wives Raisa Gorbacheva and Nancy Reagan, who chatted more than tea beneath the gaze of photographers.
Marie-Noelle Blessig, charged with following the wives’ programme for AFP, remembers seeing Gorbacheva paying a take a look at to the United Nations’ Geneva headquarters “to greet staff at the UN, where she was received with loud applause”.
Another sign of the thaw was the initial handshake involving Gorbachev and Reagan, which lasted seven seconds.
The historic moment took location in front of the Villa Fleur d’Eau, a late 19th-century mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva.
The villa is at present up for sale.
The handshake took location just before freezing photographers and reporters who stood waiting in the garden in the bitter cold.
As the Americans had selected the big villa for day one of the talks, Reagan was there initial to welcome Gorbachev, “seemingly in very good spirits”, mentioned Claude Smadja, a former deputy editor of Switzerland’s TSR tv, who witnessed the moment.
“Straight away there was the very American, very Californian side of Reagan, shaking Gorbachev’s hand, putting his other hand on his shoulder to usher him inside, and the exchange of smiles.
“The two wanted to show that they have been really a great deal at ease.”
Awe-inspiring moment
It was only when Gorbachev arrived at the villa that Christiane Berthiaume, who worked for Radio Canada, realised the importance of the moment.
“Not a single journalist asked him a query when he got out of the car or truck. We have been all basically speechless. It was awe-inspiring,” said Berthiaume, who later became a spokeswoman for various UN agencies.
The fact that the Soviet leader was there for a summit with the US president “was a sign that the Cold War, a period marked by worry, was coming to an finish”.
In a sign of how high the stakes were, the US and Soviet delegations decided to impose a “total blackout” on updating the media until the end of the summit.
“In truth, in spite of the private warmth, the initial encounter was really harsh. The two sides’ positions have been really far apart,” said Smadja, who went on to become the World Economic Forum’s managing director.
Hosts Switzerland were also well aware of the gulf between the two superpowers — so much so that the Swiss president Kurt Furgler’s assistant Walter Fust had to prepare for his boss “two various welcoming speeches, taking into account the various cultures”.
The cultural divide was also evident in the formality of the two delegations, Fust told AFP.
“The Russian participants arrived in formation really disciplined. The Americans have been much less strict on following guidelines and the protocol order,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile Nancy Reagan, he added, wanted to replace the bottles of mineral water offered with US ones, and also wanted an aide to attempt out her meals just before she did.
()