When and where was the Reykjavík Summit held?
The Reykjavík Summit took place on the 11th and the 12th of October 1986 in Reykjavík, Iceland. The meetings were held at Höfði House.
Questions about Reykjavík Summit
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who attended the Reykjavík Summit?
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev were the principals at the Reykjavík Summit.
Why did the Reykjavík Summit fail to produce an agreement?
The Reykjavík Summit collapsed over the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Gorbachev required that SDI research be confined to laboratories for ten years; Reagan refused, arguing the restriction violated his personal pledge to investigate SDI and that the research was permitted under the ABM Treaty.
What was the SDI dispute at the Reykjavík Summit?
SDI, the Strategic Defense Initiative, involved the militarization of outer space for missile defense. Gorbachev demanded SDI research remain in laboratories for a decade to protect the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Reagan refused to accept that restriction, and the disagreement ended the talks.
What did the Reykjavík Summit accomplish despite its failure?
Although no agreement was signed, both sides revealed the full extent of their concessions, human rights entered productive discussion for the first time, and Gorbachev agreed in principle to on-site inspections. These outcomes helped produce the INF Treaty, signed at the Washington Summit on the 8th of December 1987.
What is the INF Treaty and how does it connect to the Reykjavík Summit?
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was signed at the Washington Summit on the 8th of December 1987, and participants credited the Reykjavík Summit as the breakthrough that made it possible.