268. Editorial Note
On January 9, 1975, President Ford wrote in a letter to Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev that “it will remain the clear policy of my Administration to work with you for the settlement of remaining international disputes, the elimination of crisis situations and building of a peaceful and cooperative world order. Such important efforts as the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in which we are jointly engaged along with many other countries, must in my view be brought to a successful conclusion, and we will certainly work energetically to that end. I well recall our discussions on this subject at Vladivostok, and we will proceed firmly on the basis we agreed to at that time.” (Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Kissinger and Scowcroft West Wing Office Files, Box 28, USSR, the “D” File)
On January 27, Brezhnev replied: “There is also no doubt that the common actions of our countries in the completion of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe should be made active to the maximum extent in the forthcoming weeks. A successful completion of this major event with the signing of the final documents at the highest level could also be an important contribution to Soviet-American relations. Therefore, we expect that the American side in the spirit of the assurances given in your letter and in the spirit of our understanding on this question reached in Vladivostok will make every effort to facilitate achieving exactly such an outcome. Yet even today, Mr. President, not everything is going smoothly in this respect.” (Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box CL 217, Geopolitical File, Soviet Union, Dobrynin, Anatoliy, Chronological)