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George H.W. Bush, Gorbachev Lunch In Texas

Mikhail Gorbachev
Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev speaks with students at Frederick Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center as part of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates on April 23, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. (credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

HOUSTON (AP) — One-time world leaders George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev are renewing their friendship.

The former American president and his former Soviet counterpart had a private lunch Thursday in Houston. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former first lady Barbara Bush joined them, along with Gorbachev's daughter.

Gorbachev hugged Bush as he entered a Houston club and presented Bush and Baker with an autographed copy of a Russian-language book with Gorbachev's photo on the cover.

The then-presidents first met in 1989 in Malta, shortly after the Berlin Wall fell. They had four U.S.-Soviet summits during their time in office.

In 2001, Gorbachev received a public service award from the Bush Presidential Library Foundation at Texas A&M University.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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