LONDON, Reuter: British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher has formally accepted an invitation by Soviet leader Mikhal Gorbachev to visit Moscow, a government spokesman said to- day.
The visit is likely to take place next year but no date has yet been fixed, the spokesman said.
He said Thatcher had written to Gorbachev earlier this week.
It will be her first working visit to Moscow although she attended the funerals of Soviet President Yuri Andropoy and Konstantin.
Chernenko in 1984 and 1985.Political commentators said the international prestige attached to the coming visit could bolster the conservative Prime Minister’s popularity at home, which has been Waning in recent months, and help her win a third term in office. A general election must be held by 198.
Thatcher had informally accepted the invitation to Moscow when it was passed on to her by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze last month during a London visit which improved relations between the two countries.
Ties had been strained after a series of mutual diplomatic expulsions last year.
Thatcher, dubbed the iron lady by the Soviet press, held extensive talks with Gorbachev when he visited London at the end of 1984 but at the time he had not yet assumed the leadership.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 29, 1986
