An Il-plane bearing the Soviet Union logo landed at the Baghdad airport, and at this moment, the airport was already filled with the sound of welcoming military music.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein stood in the scorching sun at the airport in military uniform, waiting for the distinguished guests from the Soviet Union, Comrade Sergei Ivanovich Ulyanov, the plenipotentiary envoy for Kuwait appointed by Gorbachev and the youngest member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPSU.
Iraq had annexed Kuwaiti territory, but the views of the United States and the Soviet Union were crucial in order to legally integrate Kuwait into Iraq's territory.
However, from the perspective of international relations, the Americans are clearly more supportive of Saudi Arabia.
Therefore, obtaining the understanding of the Soviet Union became the most important task for the Iraqi side.
Seryosha slowly opened the hatch, looked at Saddam Hussein, who was looking forward to it under the spiral staircase, took off the hat on his head and greeted the other party slightly.
"Secretary, you should greet the welcoming crowd," the etiquette expert sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, standing in the cabin, reminded in a whisper.
Seryosha then raised his hat and waved it at the welcoming crowd below, and then, at the prompting of an etiquette expert, slowly walked down the spiral staircase.
Seryosha participated in such a major international event for the first time.
As the core leadership of the CPSU, his foreign visit naturally cannot be compared with the past.
Special planes, security personnel, and reporters are all indispensable.
Seryosha skillfully shook hands with Saddam Hussein, exchanged pleasantries, and then shook hands with Iraqi officials under Saddam's introduction.
Although Seryosha was not the head of state of the Soviet Union, Saddam Hussein's standard of hospitality was no less than that of the general secretary of the Soviet Union, and it can be said that he gave Seryosha enough face.
Seryosha was well aware of Saddam's approach, and the warm welcome to the Soviet envoy at the airport was nothing more than a desire to win over the Soviet Union to the side of Iraq and support their annexation of Kuwait.
Saddam Hussein did not intend to puncture this point, Seryosha's original plan was to make the Americans feel that the Soviet Union had an ambiguous attitude on the Iraq issue. made it impossible for the Americans to figure out what the attitude of the Soviets was, so Seryosha was also cooperating with Saddam Hussein to play a scene for the United States to see.
A silent welcome ceremony lasted for nearly an hour in the scorching sun.
This was followed by a welcome banquet at the Palais de la Repubblique.
Seryosha knew in his heart that this is not the time to talk about key issues on such occasions, but there will always be opportunities, Seryosha came to Iraq this time, not for anything else is to find a way to persuade the Iraqi side to withdraw its troops from Kuwait, although there are many difficulties, but Seryosha is still very sure, he must make Saddam Hussein realize that neither the United States nor the Soviet Union will allow him to annex Kuwait.
Long before the trip, Seryosha had already planned the elections for Yeltsin and Sobchak, and judging by the current approval ratings, there was almost no doubt about his election.
So Seryosha is now focused on Kuwait.
This time he was very complicated, first of all, he would visit Iraq, then he would fly to Saudi Arabia to meet with the Saudi government and the Kuwaiti government-in-exile, and when he was done with the Middle East, Seryosha would fly to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly and meet with the US president on behalf of Gorbachev.
There are too many stakeholders involved in Kuwait's affairs.
However, before the United States sends troops, everything can still be salvaged.
Seryosha knew through the path of an international risk consulting firm that the United States was hesitant to send troops to Kuwait.
Because they are afraid that a war with Iraq will cause a large number of casualties, at this moment the Americans overestimate Iraq's military capabilities, and they do not expect that Saddam Hussein is a paper tiger, and Saddam Hussein is too optimistic about his own situation, and he does not know that danger is quietly coming to him.
One thing is certain, however, that Iraq has no intention of confronting the United States head-on.
The welcome dinner was solemn and warm, and not only people from the Soviet side attended the banquet, but even the American side was invited to today's welcome party.
In his welcome speech before the banquet, Saddam spoke highly of the relations between the Soviet Union and Iraq.
And Seryosha emphasized the responsibility of the Soviet team to maintain world peace in his restoration.
During the whole banquet, Seryosha did not have any contact with the US side, and even when the reporter took the initiative to ask him about his views on the Kuwait issue, Seryosha still used his remarks about safeguarding world peace to prevaricate the reporter.
"Secretary, Mr.
President invites you to review the Republican Guard tomorrow," said an Iraqi receptionist who walked up to Seryosha and whispered.
"Thank you President Saddam Hussein for your kindness, I am the secretary in charge of economy and agriculture, and I am more interested in Iraq's agricultural production," Seryosha replied in a whisper.
After the banquet, Seryosha returned to the Soviet embassy to rest, and the Iraqi side soon sent a new invitation, inviting Seryosha to visit a farm outside Baghdad, and Seryosha immediately nodded and agreed.
The next morning, Seryosha and Saddam Hussein traveled to a farm on the outskirts of Iraq.
There were only two people in the car, Seryosha and Saddam, and Seryosha finally had the opportunity to communicate frankly with Saddam.
"Secretary Ulyanov, on the issue of Kuwait, I also hope that you and Secretary Gorbachev will fully consider the interests of our Iraq."
Seryosha patiently listened to Saddam's tirade, and then was silent for a long time before he slowly said: "Mr.
President, we, the Soviet Union, like your country, are in a serious debt crisis, and we do empathize with the situation in Iraq, but one thing you have to make clear is that the debt problem should not be an excuse for you to start a war.
Although we, the Soviet Union, and Kuwait are allies, the first thing we must ensure is that the Soviet Union will never admit that the Soviet Union will annex Kuwait in its own interests, and the reason why we do not openly contradict Iraq is that the United States will think that we are on their side, so it will unscrupulously wage war against your country. ” "Secretary Ulyanov, is this what you mean, or is it what Secretary Gorbachev means?"
asked Saddam Hussein in a panic.
"This is a collective vote of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, in order to show our sincerity, we allow Iraq to pay off our weapons debt with oil, this is the only thing that the Soviet Union as an ally can do for you, please understand our difficulties, Mr.
President, if we all agree with your Kuwaiti invasion, are you still not clear about the attitude of the Americans, your time is running out for consideration, I hope that after the end of the UN General Assembly, we can see the representatives of Iraq and Kuwait sitting at the negotiating table in Moscow, we promise, Until then, we will not express any tendentious position on the Kuwaiti issue" t1706231537: