Bush Tapes 1990 Greeting for Soviets
President Bush on Sunday sent a television greeting to the Soviet people, offering “warmest greetings” for the New Year and for “a new world of our own making.”
In a video message to be broadcast on Soviet television, Bush praised Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev as “a good partner in peace.”
A companion message taped by Gorbachev is expected to be aired on U.S. television, continuing an exchange begun by Gorbachev and former President Ronald Reagan in the mid-1980s. It was not immediately clear when either message would be broadcast.
“Given the war-torn history of this century, we should redouble our efforts to forge a new century of peace and freedom,” said Bush, who is vacationing in Texas but who taped the message in Washington before he left.
Bush noted that “our nations have produced” leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Soviet novelist Leo Tolstoy, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Soviet dissident Andrei D. Sakharov.
“We have persevered as allies in a terrible war,” he said. “The challenges we face today are no less daunting. But with good will and determination on both sides, I am confident our two peoples will be equal to the task.”
Bush reiterated that the United States “seeks no advantage from the extraordinary changes under way” in Eastern Europe.
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