Relations
Normalized
uIn December 1988, at the UN General Assembly, Gorbachev announced unilateral reductions in conventional forces, in Eastern Europe and along the China-USSR border.
uDuring his visit to Beijing in May 1989, China and the USSR agreed to resume normal relations after a 30-years.
uAt a meeting with Pope John Paul II in Rome,
Gorbachev promised
that the Soviet Union would allow full religious freedom.
uRelations with Israel also improved, as the Soviets
relaxed restrictions
on Jewish emigration.
uAfter August
1990, with tensions rising in the Persian Gulf, the USSR supported the U.S.-led effort to use economic
and military pressure
to force Iraq to give up its annexation of Kuwait.