In an interview for the BBC, Mr Gorbachev talks of his respect for Mr Reagan, his former negotiating partner, who he describes as one of the great US presidents.

Q: Most people remember Reagan the leader - how do you remember him?

Gorbachev: Felt relaxed with Reagan at their first meeting

Gorbachev: I remember him well. We had time to study one another, to build relations, which we did. I would even call our relationship a friendly one.

Of course, it wasn't like a schoolboy friendship. We had responsibilities. But we were also able to build up trust and respect.

Our constant dialogue - our meetings in Geneva and Rekyavik, and Reagan's visit to Moscow - they all helped us build a productive relationship. This meant we could decide a lot of things.

Q: How soon after you met Ronald Reagan did you realise US-USSR relations were on the brink of a new era - that things were about to change enormously?

G: I realized that straight away. Look at Geneva, our meeting there. If you compare how our talks started, and how they ended - even in that short time we were able to move to a much more relaxed dialogue. We even carried on over tea.

Look at how it began - when I was asked what I thought of Reagan, I called him a dinosaur, he called me a bonehead Bolshevik! Mikhail Gorbachev

We realized then that we could really do business with one another. That's how we were able to sign such an important agreement.

But look at how it began. When I was asked what I thought of Reagan, I called him a dinosaur. He called me a bonehead Bolshevik!

That's how it all started - a relationship between the furthest right-wing politician and the most left-leaning Bolshevik. But despite our different ideologies, we knew we had to be realistic. You can't do politics any other way...

Q: how would you classify Reagan's role in history - how important do you think he was personally, in ending the Cold War?

Reagan admitted that the Soviet Union was changing

G: I would say that Reagan could be called one of the great presidents of the USA.

It's precisely because he made a huge contribution, to beginning the end of the Cold War...

It was under Reagan that we signed the treaty eliminating short and intermediate-range missiles. That was a major first step. After all, at the time we were heading towards the brink of a nuclear disaster.

Q: You paint a very positive picture of Reagan. Do you think all Russians think the same?

G: Russians, like Americans, don't know the whole truth. So for many people Reagan remains a hawk.

But for others, he is the man who started to transform America's relations with the Soviet Union... Before I came to power no Soviet leader had met an American president for six years. Reagan clearly wanted to end his time in office as a peacemaker. We accepted that.

But when he was asked here in Moscow if he still considered the Soviet Union an Empire of Evil, he was direct. He said he'd been right at the time - but admitted that the Soviet Union under my leadership was changing.

You couldn't call him dogmatic. But he had his own peculiarities: he liked to follow American traditions. He even brought jazz music to Moscow with him. We listened to it together after dinner at the American ambassador's residence. We had our differences, but we understood and respected that.

We found a common language because we both knew how it could end otherwise. The Kremlin was in no mood to provoke a nuclear conflict. We had a set opinion on that - not to allow war with America. And they understood that too. All we needed at that time in Russia was stability, for perestroika.