Gorbachevs See an Old Friend : Reagan Is Briefly Back in Limelight

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and former President Ronald Reagan, partners in breaking the Cold War ice in five summits, greeted each other warmly today and looked forward to closer East-West ties.

The reunion in a midmorning coffee klatch with their wives gave Gorbachev an opportunity to enlist Reagan’s help in winning conservative support for arms and trade pacts signed last week by President Bush.

For Reagan, the meeting marked one of his few moments back in the limelight since leaving office last year. They met at the home of the Soviet consul general, where the Gorbachevs slept after flying in late Sunday from Minneapolis-St. Paul, and spent a few minutes at the start gazing at a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Reagan said he and Gorbachev discussed the independence drive of the Baltic states and other issues during their 40 minutes together.

“We discussed the obstacles that must be overcome,” Reagan said as he left holding a medal Gorbachev had given him for the American people in thanks for their help after the Armenian earthquake.

Reagan declined to discuss specifics of their talk or comment on the summit between Gorbachev and Bush.

Gorbachev, who told U.S. officials he was tired and delayed the start of the Reagan breakfast 45 minutes, left immediately afterward for a speech at Stanford University.

Gorbachev’s 50-car motorcade reached Stanford shortly before noon, about an hour behind schedule. He was greeted by former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, university President Donald Kennedy and Sens. Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson of California.

Thousands of students, cheering “Gorby! Gorby!” welcomed the Soviet leader as he walked through the inner quad of the scenic campus. Gorbachev waded into the crowd, shaking hands with the students and smiling.

Also left in his schedule: lunch with 150 captains of industry in oil, banking, food, entertainment, airlines, hotels, real estate and computers and a meeting with the South Korean president. The Soviet president heads home from San Francisco late today, wrapping up a seven-day North American visit.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan bristled at a question suggesting that she and Raisa Gorbachev once had a cool relationship. “I think there’s been a great misunderstanding about our relationship,” she said.

Mrs. Reagan characterized her hourlong meeting with Mrs. Gorbachev as “very nice.” She wore a black and white outfit, while Mrs. Gorbachev had donned a more businesslike gray suit.

Mrs. Reagan’s kind words for Mrs. Gorbachev contrasted with her characterization of her in “My Turn,” her memoir of her White House years.

“From the moment we met, she talked and talked and talked--so much that I could barely get a word in, edgewise or otherwise,” Mrs. Reagan wrote. “Perhaps it was insecurity on her part, but during about a dozen encounters in three different countries, my fundamental impression of Raisa Gorbachev was that she never stopped talking.

“Or lecturing, to be more accurate,” Mrs. Reagan wrote.