310 THE END OF THE COLD WAR
and I was fifteen.’ Kohl and Shevardnadze discovered that each of
them had a brother killed in the Second World War. Shevardnadze
liked Kohl’s comment that he felt guided by the words of his mother:
‘Do as you would be done by.’ He thought this a sound precept for
world politics and invited him to visit Moscow. Kohl unexpectedly
stood on his national dignity. Gorbachëv had visited London and Paris
and was about to go to Belgrade. The German people, said the Chan-
cellor, would not like him to go to the USSR without the General
Secretary first coming to Bonn. He asked for Gorbachëv to alter his
calendared schedule: this would be an important signal.^45
The diplomatic minuet between Moscow and Bonn got livelier as
Shevardnadze talked to Kohl confidentially about how NATO and the
Warsaw Pact might resolve their disagreements about conventional
weapons. He felt free to describe Mitterrand as ‘a cunning one’ – no
doubt this was a way of indicating the importance that Moscow
was now attaching to Kohl.^46 Kohl himself continued to exercise some
caution. The Soviet Army retained a menacing presence close to
West Germany’s eastern border, and Kohl appreciated the need to hold
close to Reagan. He appreciated the American President’s political
intuition: ‘He was one of the few visiting statesmen and politicians
who sensed physically what it is to divide a nation. When we were
here in Berlin and we stood on the Berlin Wall, and he saw this, he
compared it to one dividing the human body.’^47 A kind of friendship
grew between them: ‘It was such a personal relationship. It’s that
simple. We had no problems with protocol. We would call each other
up from time to time and whenever we would see each other again, it
wasn’t a big “to do”.’^48
Gorbachëv bided his time about West Germany and welcomed
Mitterrand to Moscow in late November 1988. Mitterrand was the
only foreign leader whom Gorbachëv addressed with the familiar
form of the Russian ‘you’.^49 (Gorbachëv and Thatcher were to remain
‘Mr President’ and ‘Mrs Prime Minister’ to each other even after more
than a dozen meetings.)^50 When Mitterrand called Gorbachëv a polit-
ical romantic to his face, Gorbachëv did not deny the description
while adding that he was also a realist.^51 Mitterrand with his wide
historical sweep entranced Gorbachëv in conversation. Another point
of attraction was the French President’s willingness to express concern
about the Strategic Defense Initiative. Mitterrand sought Gorbachëv’s
trust. He said he knew how hard America was trying to ‘pour salt’ on
the USSR’s sores in Eastern Europe. He gave encouragement to ideas