Speaking to the President at the party
As soon as I entered the room, President Gorbachev came and greeted me. He said, “Please do not mind. Tonight there will be a party atmosphere.” This is a translation, of course.I laughed and said, “We have all come here to enjoy ourselves on your birthday. Your joy is our joy.”
The President was laughing. Then I asked him, “Did you see the flowers?”
The President said, “As soon as I saw the flowers, I knew that they were from you. Nobody else would bring such beautiful flowers. I knew it was all your doing even before I saw your handwriting.”
Then we talked a little. The President was very, very, very kind. At one point he confided in me, “I have worked today for six hours nonstop.”
I said to him, “Only six hours? You can easily work non-stop for twenty hours out of twenty-four hours!” He was surprised and happy to hear that.
Then I asked the President, “May I speak for a few minutes during the course of the evening?”
President Gorbachev said, “Definitely you will speak as long as you want to. Pavel Palazhchenko will tell you when.”
