Bush and Gorbachev signed a deal to slash chemical weapons

On June 1, 1990, at a Washington summit, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a bilateral agreement to halt production of chemical weapons and begin dismantling their enormous stockpiles. Both sides called it a major achievement in a meeting that capped a thaw in the Cold War.

The accord committed each nation to destroy roughly 80 percent of its chemical arsenal and to cut holdings to no more than 5,000 agent tons apiece. Crucially, it authorized on-site inspections, allowing each side’s monitors to verify that destruction was actually taking place.

We agree that the chemical weapons accord is a major achievement.

The deal was also designed to pressure smaller states to abandon such weapons, and it helped pave the way for the broader Chemical Weapons Convention that opened for signature a few years later.