165. Memorandum From Secretary of State Haig to President Reagan 1
SUBJECT
- Handling the Question of a Possible Meeting with Brezhnev
Despite Brezhnev’s weekend deflection of your offer of a June meeting, I believe that we should proceed with the strategy outlined in my memo to you of last week.2 If you authorize me to call in Dobrynin, I would reiterate your offer of a June meeting and express regret that the Soviet side seems unprepared to take up your proposal for expansion of high-level U.S.-Soviet dialogue at the time of the UN Special Session on Disarmament. In response to Dobrynin’s likely effort to push Brezhnev’s counteroffer of a full-fledged Summit in October, I would state that we will consider the proposal in light of events and the substance of our dialogue in coming months. Finally, I would suggest that, if Brezhnev does not intend to accept your invitation for a June meeting, Gromyko and I should meet during the SSOD.
- Source: Reagan Library, Pipes Files, CHRON 05/01/1982–05/04/1982. Secret; Sensitive.↩
- See Document 161.↩