Office of the Historian

334. Note From the Soviet Leadership to President Nixon1

Moscow, undated.

The Soviet side could agree to the proposed text of the Interpretive Statement on the Protocol to the Interim Agreement with Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. However we deem it necessary to include into it some drafting clarifications.

1.

In order not to create an impression of some changes in the provisions of the Protocol we suggest to formulate the opening sentence of the Interpretive Statement as follows:

“In clarification of interpretation of the provisions of the Protocol to the Interim Agreement With Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons” … (the rest unchanged).

2.
We suggest to clarify that paragraph 1 states that aggregate levels of ballistic missile launchers on submarines established for the USSR and the United States include ballistic missile launchers on all nuclear-powered submarines and launchers for modern missiles which may be deployed on diesel-powered submarines, since there are no other submarines in both countries. Having this in mind, to formulate paragraph 1 as follows:

“The aggregate levels of ballistic missile launchers on submarines, established by the Protocol for the United States and the USSR (950 for the USSR and 710 for the US) include ballistic missile launchers on all nuclear-powered submarines and launchers for modern ballistic missiles which may be deployed on diesel-powered submarines”.

3.
To bring the terminology in paragraph 4 in conformity with the terms suggested earlier by the Soviet side. Instead of the words “older ICBMs or older SLBMs” used in the American draft to say “launchers of ICBM of older types or launchers of ballistic missiles on older submarines”.

Such a terminology would correspond to the Interim Agreement and the Protocol thereto.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 494, President’s Trip Files, Dobrynin/Kissinger, 1972, Vol. 12. Top Secret. A handwritten covering note from Dobrynin, July 17, reads: “Henry, I send a paper as I told you.” According to a handwritten notation, the note was delivered by Sokolov to Richard Kennedy at 4 p.m. on July 17.↩