Gorbachev Will Stop in Canada Before Summit

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev will visit Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on May 29 and 30, before his summit with President Bush, Canada announced Tuesday.

Gorbachev and Mulroney will discuss developments in Eastern Europe, East-West relations, international economic issues, domestic Soviet issues and bilateral relations, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

The visit would be Gorbachev’s first trip to Canada as Soviet head of state and as Communist Party leader. He visited in 1983 when he was agriculture minister and already a member of the party’s ruling Politburo.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater released more details of the U.S.-Soviet summit timetable.

Gorbachev’s meetings with Bush will begin with a formal welcoming ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, May 30, and conclude with a joint news conference on Sunday, June 3.

In between, there will be four formal rounds of talks at the White House, concluding Friday evening.

“We have a lot of difficult issues to discuss with the Soviets,” Fitzwater said, mentioning disputes over arms control and Soviet pressure on the independence-minded Baltic states.

Bush will be host at a state dinner Thursday for Gorbachev. The Soviet leader will reciprocate Friday with a dinner at the Soviet Embassy for Bush.

On Saturday, the two leaders will fly to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, for a day of private discussions.

Fitzwater said the Camp David talks will focus on political issues such as changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and challenges facing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

From Washington, Gorbachev will fly to Minneapolis for a six-hour stop. From there, he will fly to San Francisco.

The next day, June 4, Gorbachev will visit Stanford University.

Soviet officials also began exploring the possibility of a California reunion between Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, but no arrangements had been completed.