US-Soviet Summit in Washington, DC

In December 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in Washington, DC. The treaty eliminated both nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic missiles with a range of 300-3,400 miles. This was a major achievement in terms of reducing the military build-up in each of these Cold War superpowers. This Soviet poster from the fall of 1987 promoted the importance of the upcoming meeting. The text simply reads: "Soviet-American Summit (literally "meeting at the highest level"): December 1987, Washington." However, the significance is clearly in the image, where a new flower springs from the ground where the two flags are planted. The image suggests a new thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations, which the disarmament agreement of the INF Treaty made a reality.