Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)

Abstract

The Soviet Union and the United States have been engaged in bilateral Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) since late 1969. The first phase of the negotiations (SALT I) was completed in May 1972, with the signing of two agreements, the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems and the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures with respect to .the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, the latter with a Protocol attached to it. The second phase of the negotiations (SALT II), which formally began in November 1972, is still underway. The goal of the two sides is to replace the Interim Agreement with a more permanent one, and to pave the way for negotiations on reductions of their strategic forces. In the meantime, three new agreements have been concluded, one amending the anti-ballistic missile treaty, and two laying down some principles for further negotiations. However, the negotiations of the last two years have not led to a further agreement, largely because of the positions of the two parties with regard to some of the specific weapon systems under consideration.