In January 1989 , Brent Scowcroft voiced his belief that the Cold War had not concluded and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev was attempting to cause issues for the Western alliance . When asked about these comments during his first news conference in office a week later on January 27 , Bush said of the administration 's position on the Soviet Union , " Let 's take our time now . Let 's take a look at where we stand on our strategic arms talks ; on conventional force talks ; on chemical , biological weapons talks ; on some of our bilateral policy problems with the Soviet Union ; formulate the policy and then get out front -- here 's the U.S. position . " When asked about the possibility of superpower deals being offered to the US on February 6 , Bush said he was unsure but spoke of the influence the Soviet Union could have on the administration 's willingness to engage Central America : " I can see a possibility of cooperation in Central America because I would like the Soviets to understand that we have very special interests in this hemisphere , particularly in Central America , and that our commitment to democracy and to freedom and free elections and these principles is unshakeable . " On February 9 , during an address to a joint session of Congress , Bush called for change in the world and singled out the Soviet Union as an area he wished to improve relations with , citing " fundamental facts remain that the Soviets retain a very powerful military machine in the service of objectives which are still too often in conflict with ours " and that he had personally assured Gorbachev that the US would be ready to move forward after reviewing its policies there . In a speech at the Annual Conference of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on March 6 , Bush addressed " the key issue of change within the Soviet Union " where more questions lingered than answers and offered a position the federal government could deploy amid uncertainty over the Soviet Union 's future : " We should press for progress that contributes to a more stable relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union , but we must combine our readiness to build better relations with a resolve to maintain defenses adequate to secure our interests . " In 1989 , just after the fall of the Berlin Wall , Bush met with Gorbachev in a conference on the Mediterranean island of Malta . The administration had been under intense pressure to meet with the Soviets , but not all initially found the Malta Summit to be a step in the right direction ; General Brent Scowcroft , among others , was apprehensive about the meeting , saying that it might be " premature " due to concerns where , according to Condoleezza Rice , " expectations would be set that something was going to happen , where the Soviets might grandstand and force the U.S. into agreements that would ultimately not be good for the United States . " But European leaders , including François Mitterrand and Margaret Thatcher , encouraged Bush to meet with Gorbachev , something that he did December 2 and 3 , 1989 . Though no agreements were signed , the meeting was viewed largely as being an important one ; when asked about nuclear war , Gorbachev responded , " I assured the President of the United States that the Soviet Union would never start a hot war against the United States of America . And we would like our relations to develop in such a way that they would open greater possibilities for cooperation ... . This is just the beginning . We are just at the very beginning of our road , long road to a long-lasting , peaceful period . " The meeting was received as a very important step to the end of the Cold War
Malta Summit
Malta Summit
Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration