Office of the Historian

79. Memorandum of Conversation1

Washington, March 6, 1973, 6:12–7:15 p.m.

PARTICIPANTS

  • Anatoli Dobrynin, Soviet Ambassador Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

The meeting took place at Dobrynin’s request.

He had returned the day before from the Soviet Union, under the following circumstances. Within 48 hours of my return from China the President received a letter from Brezhnev2 which transparently suggested that the Summit meeting considered for May should be postponed until June but that a definite date be set for June. The fact of the matter was that no date had been considered for May and that the two dates being considered were June and November. Dobrynin had origi [Page 272] nally intended to return around March 10, but I had pointed out to Vorontsov that I would leave for vacation on March 11—whereupon Brezhnev sent him back immediately.3

In this meeting Dobrynin now conveyed to me effusive expressions of Brezhnev looking forward to the Summit meeting, which he thought could be even more successful than the last one and mark a decisive turn in the relationship of our two countries. In addition, Dobrynin stressed that if the meeting was as successful as they hoped, there should be a return visit of the President to the Soviet Union the next year which would be not only business but a public visit by the President to the principal cities of the Soviet Union accompanied by Brezhnev. Dobrynin also conveyed an invitation from Brezhnev to me to visit the Soviet Union prior to the Summit.

I then reviewed with Dobrynin the various outstanding issues. He stressed that particular importance was attached to the nuclear treaty, that they wanted some discussions of the Middle East and a number of bilateral issues. I suggested that we meet for lunch on Thursday4 to continue the conversation in greater detail.

As we parted, Dobrynin said that if I wanted to, he would be glad to receive any information I had on my China trip, but he wasn’t asking for it. I told him I would be glad to give it to him.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 495, Dobrynin/Kissinger, Vol. 15. Top Secret; Sensitive; Exclusively Eyes Only. The meeting took place in the Military Aide’s office in the White House. The memorandum is attached at Tab A to a memorandum from Kissinger to Nixon, undated, summarizing his conversations with Dobrynin on March 6 and 8.↩
  2. Document 78.↩
  3. In a telephone conversation on March 6, 12:24 p.m. Dobrynin told Kissinger: “Brezhnev sent me in a rather urgent plane to keep an eye on you.” Their conversation continued: “D[obrynin]: (laughter) Well, Brezhnev hoped that you will not go on a vacation until they finish the major things I guess. K[issinger]: No, no, no. D: And before it will be clear that you could go to Moscow. K: Oh, no, I’ll go to Moscow. D: Yes. Well, that’s why he hoped that this will be clear before you went for a vacation. K: But he didn’t put it in his letter. D: Well, he did—He called me and I will tell you when I will see you what happened really. I was in from Moscow—then he called me and he asked me, ‘Did you tell Henry that I invite him?’ I said, ‘Yes, I did.’ But from what I saw in telegram, it is not clear; he wanted it to be in letter.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Telephone Conversations (Telcons), Box 19, Chronological File)↩
  4. March 8. See Document 81.↩