In the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was constructing a system of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) designed to reach the United States. The Soviet Union was also building an Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) protection system that would prevent the U.S. from retaliating against Moscow if the Soviet Union decided to fire a missile at the U.S. As a result, President Lyndon Johnson began to de-escalate the arms race through talks that began in 1967. The goal was not to completely eliminate nuclear weapons but to reduce the capacities of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union to launch and defend themselves from nuclear attacks.
After several years of talks, President Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Union, signed SALT I, or Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, in 1972. Both sides agreed to limits on the number of nuclear weapons they had. In addition, both nations set limits on the use of anti-ballistic missiles (ABM) sites. The Soviets had constructed this type of system in Moscow in the 1960s, the U.S. had launched an ABM program to protect several ICBM sites. Over time, the U.S. stopped construction of these sites because of financial constraints. In addition, the systems were not found effective in the U.S.
Later in 1972, the countries began a second series of SALT negotiations because SALT I did not prevent either side from using Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicles (MIRVs) on their missiles. These types of missiles had many warheads. SALT II talks also aimed to limit the use of strategic nuclear weapons that would target civilian or military centers. These negotiations stretched from the Nixon administration to the administrations of Ford and Carter. In 1979, President Carter and Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT II agreement. Six months later, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, so the United States Senate did not ratify the SALT II treaty. However, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union followed the terms of the treaty.
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