248 THE END OF THE COLD WAR
by telling his officials to ‘prepare the question without worrying about
the General Staff ’.^69 He went straight to Gorbachëv and argued for the
removal of all the missiles from Soviet Asia.^70 Having won his struggle
to unbundle the Reykjavik package, he wanted to go further and win
consent to making Asia free from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Gorbachëv demurred. He had humbled the Defence Ministry, and this
was not the time to annoy the armed forces unduly. While sharing
Shevardnadze’s goal of total denuclearization, he wanted to proceed
with a degree of political prudence. As ever, he hoped to keep his
doubters as well as his followers onside.