Reagan escalated the Cold War , accelerating a reversal from the policy of détente which had begun in 1979 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan . Reagan feared that the Soviet Union had gained a military advantage over the United States , and the Reagan administration hoped to that heightened military spending would grant the U.S. military superiority and weaken the Soviet economy . Reagan ordered a massive buildup of the United States Armed Forces , directing funding to the B-1 Lancer bomber , the B-2 Spirit bomber , cruise missiles , the MX missile , and the 600-ship Navy . In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20 , Reagan oversaw NATO 's deployment of the Pershing missile in West Germany . The president also strongly denounced the Soviet Union and Communism in moral terms , describing the Soviet Union an " evil empire . " In December 1989 , both the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union declared the Cold War over , and in 1991 , the two were partners in the Gulf War against Iraq , a longtime Soviet ally . On 31 July 1991 , the START I treaty cutting the number of deployed nuclear warheads of both countries was signed by Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George Bush . However , many consider the Cold War to have truly ended in late 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union
declared
Malta Summit
Soviet Union–United States relations