Presidency of Ronald Reagan to forestall the possibility of an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, both Gorbachev and Reagan agreed to continue arms control negotiations at the October 1986 Reykjavík Summit. At the summit, Gorbachev and Reagan closed in on an agreement to greatly reduce or eliminate the nuclear stockpiles of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union over a ten-year period, but the deal collapsed due to disagreements regarding SDI development. Reagan attacked Gorbachev in a 1987 speech delivered in West Berlin, but negotiations continued. Gorbachev and Reagan broke the impasse by agreeing to negotiate separate treaties on
Reykjavík Summit whereas in reality, Matlock contends, they would have had little effect on research that was still in its very early stages. The talks finally stalled, Reagan asking if Gorbachev would "turn down a historic opportunity because of a single word", referring to his insistence on laboratory testing. Gorbachev asserted that it was a matter of principle, and the summit concluded. Despite getting unexpectedly close to the potential elimination of all nuclear weapons, the meeting adjourned with no agreement; however, both sides discovered the extent of the concessions the other side was willing to make. Human rights became a subject of