Exclusive: the Kremlin’s secret Margaret Thatcher files

‘I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together.’ This famous endorsement of the Soviet leader, from Mrs Thatcher, convinced the world that he was a fundamentally different figure from his predecessors. But did she really see in him a kindred spirit? In her memoirs Margaret Thatcher was equally generous about the Soviet leader — magnanimity in victory perhaps. The official Kremlin records, which preserve almost every word the two leaders said to each other, paint a very different picture. The Soviets, like the Nazis, were meticulous note-keepers, and the notes I have seen (and had the chance to copy) show the true nature of the Thatcher–Gorby relationship.

Four years ago I wrote for this publication about the Soviet elite’s cosy relationship with the Labour party. With Mrs Thatcher, it was the opposite. This transcript, never before translated, offers a striking insight into the spirit of the woman who helped end the Cold War.

Mission to Moscow, 1987

During Thatcher’s visit to Moscow the two leaders discussed competing world views, and Mrs T made her feelings clear about the Kremlin’s foreign policy.

m. thatcher The Soviet Union is committed to the doctrine of world domination of communism, the Brezhnev doctrine… Of course, it is only natural that we should have ideological battles, but that should be done in a proper way. What we see is communism seeking to dominate everywhere. Look at Yemen, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Angola, Nicaragua, Cuban forces in some African states. And what about Vietnam? As soon as they got rid of the American troops, they would not turn to their domestic problems, but instead invaded Cambodia. And what about Afghanistan? That is why we say that the communist foreign policy is aimed at world domination.
There have been impressive developments in the Soviet Union recently. It is interesting to see whether those developments will affect the foreign policy.