Third Conversation between M.S. Gorbachev and FRG Chancellor H. Kohl

On June 12, 1989, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev began a four-day visit to West Germany, just two weeks after a similar visit to West Germany by United States President George H. W. Bush. Gorbachev had by the summer of 1989 become a popular figure and expectations were running high in West German society over the summit. From the Soviet Union's perspective, West Germany represented the largest economy in Europe and welcomed the possibility of increased trade. For many Germans, the visits by both Bush and Gorbachev during the summer of 1989 illustrated joint recognition of the new, pivotal role that West Germany played in East-West relations.

During their third official meeting on June 14, Chancellor Kohl and Gorbachev focused once again on the reform movements in Eastern Europe. Although Kohl sounded the alarm with the apparent hard line being followed by Erich Honecker in East Germany, Gorbachev deflected the question and instead steered the conversation toward Poland and Hungary. Both leaders agreed that nothing should be done that could further destabilize the governments. Instead, Gorbachev advocated for financial assistance from the West to help support a more managed transformation to a mixed economy.

With a great deal of foresight, Chancellor Kohl rightly identified both Romania and Yugoslavia as the most troubled states in Eastern Europe, foreshadowing the violent revolution in Romania and the lengthy and deadly civil war in Yugoslavia. Gorbachev's response seems to indicate agreement with Kohl's assessment but sounds a much more reluctant tone, implying the Soviet Union would not take any kind of direct action in either of these countries.