THE MALTA SUMMIT 421Gorbachëv offered praise for Bush. The President responded warmly
and recounted that, on the flight to Valletta, he had reflected on how
he had changed his standpoint on the USSR by 180 degrees. His
administration and the American Congress, he said, believed that
success for perestroika would bring benefits for world peace. His
administration would do what it could to get the Jackson–Vanik
amendment repealed. Credits could then become available, and this
would enable the Soviet economy to import the foreign technology
it needed for modernization.^18 At the same time he called for an
improved official respect for human rights in the USSR. He also asked
for Castro to be discouraged from exporting revolution. Gorbachëv
answered that Havana and Washington should seek a normalization of
their relations. Bush warned that Soviet indulgence of Castro would
undermine the broader process of ending international tensions. It
would anyway be better for the USSR if it ceased to waste its money
on Cuba. Gorbachëv asked Bush to accept that Cuba and Nicaragua
were independent countries; he repeated the USSR’s objection to the
American military action in Panama that had ended in the arrest
of President Noriega.^19
Gorbachëv objected to how Kohl was exploiting the theme of
German reunification. Gorbachëv called for a pause before any deci-
sion about whether the new Germany could join NATO. Bush denied
seeking to embarrass the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. Gorbachëv
interjected: ‘We see and appreciate this.’ Bush mentioned that several
NATO countries spoke up for German reunification while quietly feel-
ing concern about the practical potential; he himself promised to act
with due caution.^20 The two leaders agreed on a scheme and schedule
for disarmament in several categories: nuclear missiles, chemical weap-
ons and subterranean test explosions. They promised to look at global
ecological questions. They agreed on increasing cultural exchange
between the USSR and the US, including student scholarships. Gor-
bachëv said: ‘The United States and the USSR are simply fated to have
dialogue, interaction, collaboration. There’s no other way. But for this to
happen we have to stop looking at each other as enemies.’ At that
moment, without any planning, Bush stretched a hand across the table
to Gorbachëv. This physical gesture, by an American President who
often fumbled his words, moved all those present.^21
At lunch on 2 December Gorbachëv raised the question of finan-
cial credits. Baker, as Reagan’s former Treasury Secretary, offered
the opinion that Soviet leaders were imperilling perestroika by their