Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990 TAG: 9005290284
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OTTAWA LENGTH: Medium
Gorbachev had four hours of talks scheduled with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the two were expected to focus mainly on international issues.
Mulroney met Gorbachev just six months ago when he made the first official visit to the Soviet Union by a Canadian prime minister in 18 years.
The Soviet leader left Moscow accompanied by officials including Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze and Deputy Premier Yuri Maslyukov, the official Soviet news agency Tass reported.
He was to arrive in Ottawa at midday and go directly to a private lunch at the prime minister's official residence.
Wednesday is to feature a wreath-laying ceremony at the national War Memorial followed by another meeting with Mulroney. A brief news conference with Mulroney is to precede Gorbachev's departure for Washington.
The relatively light schedule during his 29-hour stopover in Ottawa should give Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, an opportunity to adapt to the eight-hour time change before their arrival in Washington late Wednesday.
Both Soviet and Canadian officials insisted there were substantive international issues to be discussed during Gorbachev's stopover in Canada.
Canadian foreign policy experts say they are interested in the Soviet view of the new Europe, the changing roles of alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the more prominent roles of organizations such as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Mulroney has long been a staunch supporter of NATO, but his government has begun a review of policy to take another look at the alliance. External Affairs Minister Joe Clark said recently that NATO must assume a more political role in the face of a declining military mission.
The role of NATO and a united Germany's membership in the Western alliance promised to be a major point of contention, both in Canada and when Gorbachev gets to Washington.
Canada, a NATO member, wants a reunified Germany to remain in the Western alliance. Gorbachev has said that continued German participation in NATO could slow the Soviet military withdrawal from Eastern Europe, particularly in East Germany.
The Canadians believe that the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe - an outgrowth of the 1975 meeting of 35 European and North American nations in Finland in 1975 - must be expanded to become the principal forum for discussion in the Europe of the future.
"Both sides are concerned about the new architecture of Europe," said a senior Canadian foreign policy official, who requested anonymity. "German reunification and NATO membership will be a point of difference."
by CNB