§ Mr. Wareingasked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her recent talks with Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist party of the Soviet Union.
§ Mr. RifkindI have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend gave a lunch followed by talks with Mr. Gorbachev on 16 December. The talks lasted some two and three quarter hours and were business-like and friendly. They dealt most with current issues in East-West relations and the prospects for arms control. There was also a brief discussion of bilateral relations and Anglo-Soviet trade.
320WMr. Gorbachev brought the Prime Minister a message from President Chernenko. In thanking him for this, the Prime Minister recalled her useful and constructive talk with Mr. Chernenko last February.
There was agreement on the need for increased contacts between Britain and the Soviet Union as a step towards diminishing misunderstanding between East and West and creating the increased confidence necessary for successful negotiations on arms control. The Prime Minister impressed on Mr. Gorbachev the sincerity of the West's wish to achieve security at a lower level of armaments, with the essential conditions of balance and adequate verification.