The Geneva Peace Conference was held on January 9, 1991, in Geneva, Switzerland, to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in order to avoid a war between Ba'athist Iraq and the United States-backed coalition. Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz represented Iraq, while U.S. Secretary of State James Baker was the United States representative. Lasting nearly seven hours, both parties refused to move on their initial positions. Iraq refused to withdraw from Kuwait, while the United States and its allies continued to demand Iraq's immediate withdrawal. The meeting was the final initiative that eventually led to the Gulf War.
Build-up
On November 29, 1990, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 678, which authorized member states 'to use all necessary means to uphold and implement all previous resolutions demanding the immediate withdrawal of Iraq from Kuwait.' The goal of the resolution was to give Saddam Hussein one last firm message that the United Nations would not allow Iraq to continue its occupation of Kuwait. Even its close ally and former enemy of the United States, the Soviet Union, tried to convince Saddam to reconsider his actions. Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev tried to persuade Saddam to look out for his own and Iraq's best interests. He was successful in having fellow United Nations member states include a 'period of goodwill' within Resolution 678. The period of goodwill was designed to give Iraq an opportunity to review its policy and actions and hopefully come to the conclusion that it would be best to withdraw.
In the United States, President George H. W. Bush insisted on going an "extra mile for peace". This initiative allowed the opportunity for open dialogue between Iraq and the United States. The U.S. position included the option of receiving Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and sending Secretary of State Baker to Iraq. The main goal behind this policy was to assure American voters that the US government was taking steps to avoid a military conflict with Iraq.
Iraq welcomed the opportunity for direct talks with the U.S. From the beginning of the Kuwait invasion, Saddam had lobbied for direct negotiations with the United States. Iraq had been previously denied any face-to-face negotiations. Iraq's Information Minister, Latif Nusseit Jasim, stated that Iraq was willing to discuss "every aspect of the crisis of the [Persian] Gulf, without exception, so long as the Americans were prepared to negotiate without any preconditions."
Other Arab dictatorships called for Saddam to comply with Resolution 678. Egyptian President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Fahd, along with other heads of state, publicly called for an unconditioned withdrawal from Kuwait. Syrian Minister of Defense Mustafa Tlas stated that Syria would increase its military if Iraq did not comply. After a meeting in Cairo on December 3, 1990, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt issued a statement that stated "Bush's initiative creates the last chance for removing the danger of war from the region. Saddam had better seize this opportune moment to withdraw from Kuwait, rather than embroil the region in a bloody and futile war.
When trying to decide on a date for Iraqi and U.S. personnel to meet, Saddam insisted on a date close to the January 15 deadline of Resolution 678. His goal was to try to evade the United Nations resolution. The United States wanted the date to be between December 20, 1990, and January 3, 1991, in order to give Saddam enough time to withdraw the Iraqi army. The closer to the resolution deadline, the more flexibility Saddam would have. It would be unrealistic to withdraw a large number of troops within a few days. While Saddam continued to hold out for a meeting closer to the deadline of Resolution 678, President Bush reluctantly offered that the meeting be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 9, 1991. It was finally agreed that Tariq Aziz and James Baker would meet to discuss the occupation of Kuwait and the United Nations Resolutions. President Bush had promised the United States Congress that no resolution would be presented to it until after the Geneva meeting.