SALT 2

why did SALT 2 happen?

There was a desire of both the US & USSR to reach a more wide-ranging and lasting agreement than SALT 1

what Summits made up SALT 2

Vladivostok Summit & Vienna Summit

when was the Vladivostok Summit?

November 1974

The Vladivostok Summit was preceded by …

Kissinger visiting Moscow in October

What did Kissinger do in his October 1974 meeting with Brezhnev?

Discuss numbers of strategic missile launchers and MIRVs

General Ford had succeeded Nixon in 1974 as US President after Watergate but…

he retained Kissinger as the chief negotiator with the Soviet Union

what was agreed at the Vladivostok Summit?

on a framework for a ten-year plan

the on a framework for a ten-year plan reached at Vladivostok was seen as a…

preliminary move towards a future SALT 2 treaty

what made agreements at Vladivostok possible

The Soviets had agreed to equal levels of ICBM & SLBM launchers & US congress, despite internal opposition linked to the high levels of weapons being retained & the apparent gains made by the Soviet Union, passed resolutions supporting the Vladivostok SALT agreements by February 1975.

It became clear that a smooth transition from Vladivostok to…would not happen

SALT 2

why did it became clear that a smooth transition from Vladivostok to SALT 2 would not happen?

there were disagreements over the limit on air-to-surface missiles and if they applied only to ballistic missiles or also to cruise missiles

what happened to Kissinger after Vladivostok?

faced significant opposition from the Secretary of Defence, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others. New proposals were forced onto Kissenger & backed by Ford

why was it clear that SALT 2 would not be reached after Valivostok?

Brezhnev rejected the Ford’s new approach & it was an election year (1976)

what happened in January 1977

Carter came to office & the Carter administration began trying to establish more ambitious arms reduction programmes for the SALT 2 agreements than what had been laid out at Vladivostok.

why was Carter want to establish more ambitious arms reduction programmes for the SALT 2 agreements than what had been laid out at Vladivostok?

he was under pressure from public opinion & his own advisers to adopt a hard-line position on arms reduction from the USSR. 

By March 1977 Carter was considering …

reducing levels of ICBMs, new limits on testing & a ban on new types of ICBMs and sent these proposals to the Soviets

how did Brezhnev react to Carter’s March 1977 proposals?

Brezhnev, who considered the Vladivostok agreement as binding, rejected the proposals as they demanded a disproportionate reduction in Soviet forces compared to the US

there was an increasing feelings by the USSR that the Carter administration…

was beginning to move away from detente & the cooperation on nuclear weapons that it necessitated

when was the Vienna Summit

June 1979

when were the SALT 2 agreements announced?

May 1979

the SALT 2 agreements were signed at the…

Vienna Summit June 1979

The Vienna Summit was significant as it showed that …

Soviet & American leadership could communicate directly rather than through intermediates