Gorbachev demanded that Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as "Star Wars," be taken down to remove the shield in space against intercontinental ballistic missiles. SDI was a program meant to stop any missile attacks from the Soviet Union. Reagan wanted Americans to live without fear, in peace, knowing that they are protected by the forces in the sky. This new technology meant that any attack, any missile, and any offensive by the Soviet Union would be obsolete because of the high-tech defense system developed against them. Understandably, Gorbachev wanted this platform to be taken down so that the playing field was even, but Reagan refused and the talks ended the next day.
On October 12, 1986, the two leaders walked out of the summit with aggravated body language (as spotted by the Reagan team and the press), signaling that any agreements that would have been reached were lost. Reagan believed that Gorbachev was talking with "bad faith," and in response, Gorbachev said that Reagan was lying. After the fallout, the two leaders did not get back together for another arms reduction meeting until December 1987, when Gorbachev dropped his insistence on the removal of SDI from the negotiations.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reagan-and-gorbachev-meet-in-reykjavik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjav%C3%ADk_Summit
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/strategic-defense-initiative-sdi
It is quite fascinating to think that Reagan and Gorbachev were able to later come to an understanding, despite the events of Reykjavik. Reagan would go on to send a message to Gorbachev in 1987, with his famous Berlin speech. He wanted Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the tensions of the Cold War between the US and USSR. Eventually, the two leaders both signed the INF Treaty, reducing the number of nuclear missiles and eliminating an entire class of weapons. This historic moment changed the nature of arms control, to arms reduction.
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