Cold War to the Kremlin's military and political concessions, Reagan agreed to renew talks on economic issues and the scaling-back of the arms race. The first summit was held in November 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland. At one stage the two men, accompanied only by an interpreter, agreed in principle to reduce each country's nuclear arsenal by 50 percent. A second summit, was held in October 1986, Reykjavík, Iceland. Talks went well until the focus shifted to Reagan's proposed Strategic Defense Initiative, which Gorbachev wanted eliminated. Reagan refused. The negotiations failed, but the third summit in 1987 led to a breakthrough with the
Mikhail Gorbachev Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, saying the move "is not the work of a great mind." Gorbachev also said that "all agreements aimed at nuclear disarmament and the limitation of nuclear weapons must be preserved for the sake of life on Earth." Gorbachev signed the U.S.-Soviet nuclear disarmament treaty in 1987 with President Ronald Reagan. Gorbachev hailed the George H.W. Bush’s role in helping end the Cold War following the news of the former President's death, saying: "We had a chance to work together during the years of tremendous changes. It was a dramatic time that demanded great responsibility from everyone.