Gorbachev’s interpreter: Best summit deals are written down

(24 Jul 2018) One man who knows a great deal about Washington-Moscow summits is not ready to call the latest one in Helsinki a failure, even despite its confused aftermath.
From 1985 to 1991, Pavel Palazhchenko was a constant presence as chief interpreter for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.
In innumerable news photos from that era, across 10 summits that brought the Cold War to an end and ushered in unprecedented cooperation between Washington and Moscow, he's the guy with the dark suit and mustache discreetly leaning in toward Gorbachev.
So when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin took to their podiums in Helsinki last week, Palazhchenko was watching from Moscow to see how the latest chapter in the story would unfold.
His take on the controversial meeting: Next time, it might be a good idea to get things set down in writing.
But, he says, please keep holding these summits - even if the going gets difficult - as there's too much at stake not to talk.
Palazchenko declined to call the Helsinki meeting an outright failure.
That's even despite the confused aftermath in which Trump backtracked on comments saying that he believed Putin when the Russian leader said his country was not involved in election meddling in the United States.
The Russian language expert did, however, note there was a lack of clarity on exactly what the two world leaders agreed upon.
"A couple of mistakes were made: I think that for example it was a mistake not to try to craft some kind of a joint statement," Palazhchenko told The Associated Press.
"The press conference did not go well. Those things happen, stuff happens, but nevertheless one has to move forward and perhaps they will correct some of the mistakes that were made and move forward by trying to build a coalition."
Throughout the interview, Palazchenko stressed that the US-Russian relationship was simply too important - to each side, and to the world - for the two countries not to engage in dialogue.
"Even though more than 80 percent of the nuclear weapons that existed at the height of the Cold War have now been destroyed, nevertheless they are still the nuclear superpowers," he said.
"It will be very difficult to repair what has been done over the past years but it is something where I think once the forward movement starts I think history will be on their side," he added.
Just because two leaders clash, he reminded, doesn't mean a summit wasn't worth it.
At a Geneva summit in November, 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev argued vigorously over US plans for the Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense, better known as "Star Wars".
But the summit ended with the declaration that nuclear war "cannot be won and must never be fought", relaunched cultural and educational exchanges, and paved the way for later agreements to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.
And spontaneity isn't all bad - Palazchenko believes the 1990 Helsinki summit between George H.W. Bush and Gorbachev succeeded because both wanted it to succeed and were able to set aside friction over spy scandals and other incidents.
"I think Putin and Trump too wanted to succeed" he said, but admitted "it is difficult".
"The way ahead will be very difficult, it's a difficult path, a lot of mines have not yet exploded and they will. But they I think are determined to improve their relationship," he continued.
As for Democrats in the US Congress summoning Trump's State Department interpreter Marina Gross to find out what was discussed in the one-on-one with Putin, Palazhchenko said the request was "extraordinary".

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