284. Letter From Secretary of State Muskie to Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko1
Since our meeting in Vienna, I have given a great deal of thought to your views on the situation in Afghanistan and to our own concerns about events there. I noted your indication of an interest in continuing an exchange on this issue and on the importance of improving relations between our two countries.2
It is the position of the United States that any viable solution to the problem of Afghanistan must be based on the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign nations. Accordingly, with the prompt withdrawal of all Soviet forces from Afghanistan, the United States will be prepared to join in assurances and arrangements to establish a truly independent and non-aligned Afghanistan, administered by a government acceptable to the Afghan people.
The United States has no interest in interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. We will not endorse arrangements designed to perpetuate a government imposed upon Afghanistan through foreign arms. Nor could we agree to conditions which affect adversely our own vital interests in the area or those of Afghanistan’s neighbors.
If the foregoing approach is accepted by the Soviet Union, the United States would be prepared to explore some transitional arrangement, to be implemented along with the prompt withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Afghanistan, for the purpose of ensuring that peace and tranquillity are restored in Afghanistan. The creation of an international peacekeeping force could be considered in this connection.
[Page 760]It is the US view that a solution based on such principles would facilitate the restoration of more cooperative relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Sincerely,
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 61, Soviet Exchanges: 1/79–10/80. Secret; Sensitive. Carter initialed “C” in the upper right corner. In a memorandum to Carter, May 28, Brzezinski noted that he gave Muskie some proposed language for the letter during a breakfast meeting the previous Friday, May 23. Referring to a draft of the letter, Brzezinski added that he made some changes so that the Soviets could not infer from the letter that the United States accepted the “puppet regime” in Kabul. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 2, Afghanistan: 5/80–1/81) The draft of the letter was not found. In telegram 9449 from Moscow, June 12, the Embassy reported that Muskie’s letter was delivered by Watson during his meeting with Gromyko that day. In Gromyko’s reaction to the letter, the Embassy noted that he said it “offered no prospects for reaching a settlement, stating that insistence on prior withdrawal of Soviet troops is a dead end.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P880025–0493) Telegram 9449 is printed in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. VI, Soviet Union, Document 283.↩
- See Document 272.↩