With the Soviet budget deficit climbing and no domestic money markets to provide the state with loans , Gorbachev looked elsewhere . Throughout 1991 , Gorbachev requested sizeable loans from Western countries and Japan , hoping to keep the Soviet economy afloat and ensure the success of perestroika . Although the Soviet Union had been excluded from the G7 , Gorbachev secured an invite to its London summit in July 1991 . There , he continued to call for financial assistance ; Mitterrand and Kohl backed him , while Thatcher — no longer in office — also urged Western leaders to agree . Most G7 members were reluctant , instead offering technical assistance and proposing the Soviets receive " special associate " status — rather than full membership — of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund . Gorbachev was frustrated that the U.S. would spend $ 100 billion on the Gulf War but would not offer his country loans . Other countries were more forthcoming ; West Germany had given the Soviets DM60 billion by mid-1991 . Later that month , Bush visited Moscow , where he and Gorbachev signed the START I treaty after ten years of negotiation
its London summit
17th G7 summit
Mikhail Gorbachev