[Title] Press Conference given by President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev at the Malta Summit (Declaration of an End to the Cold War at the Malta Summit)

Question: President Gorbachev. President Bush called on you to end the cold war once and for all. Do you think that has been done now?

President Gorbachev: In the first place, 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. Naturally, the President and I had a wide discussion, where we sought the answer to the question of where we stand now. We stated, both of us, that the world leaves one epoch of cold war, and enters another epoch. This is just the beginning. We are just at the very beginning of our road, long road to a long-lasting, peaceful period.

Thus we were unanimous in concluding about the special responsibility of such countries as the United States and the Soviet Union.

Naturally, we had a rather long discussion, but this is not for the press conference--that is, we shouldn't explain our discussion--regarding the fact that the new year calls for a new approach. And thus, many things that were characteristic of the cold war should be abandoned, also the stake on force, the arms race, mistrust, psychological and ideological

struggle, and all that. All that should be things of the past.

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