"Mikhail Gorbachev was Soviet Union's last head of State until its dissolution in 1991. Both his internal reforms (Glasnost and Perestroika) and his new approach to international détente, in particular his pursuit of far-reaching nuclear disarmament measures, played an important role in ending the Cold War. The summit of Reykjavik, Iceland, from 11 to 12 October 1986, was the second meeting between Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. As we now know from declassified documents, the two leaders came close to an agreement to abolish all nuclear weapons.On the eve of the summit's 26th anniversary, Gorbachev reflects on the paradigm shift that Reykjavik brought about and on the status of nuclear weapons today. The dramatic moments of this summit were recently re-enacted in the staged reading of the play 'Reykjavik' by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes in New York on 27 September 2012: http://www.ctbto.org/specials/reykjavik-in-the-spotlight/Disclaimer: The views expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the positions of the CTBTO."