What’s incredible is that the complete opposite is actually true. Both Khrushchev and Gorbachev made very serious efforts to eliminate all nuclear weapons; and I sincerely believe the USSR would have gone along with a nuclear-free world. But the Americans told them to get lost. Reagan made a proposal to Gorbachev (with a straight face, no less) that involved the Soviets first getting rid of all their nukes, then the US would follow suit.
What’s incredible is that the complete opposite is actually true. Both Khrushchev and Gorbachev made very serious efforts to eliminate all nuclear weapons; and I sincerely believe the USSR would have gone along with a nuclear-free world. But the Americans told them to get lost. Reagan made a proposal to Gorbachev (with a straight face, no less) that involved the Soviets first getting rid of all their nukes, then the US would follow suit.