- Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
- Strategic Arms Reduction Talks
- 20th-century international relations - Renewal of arms control
- arms control - The Cold War : Soviet and U.S.-led arms-control agreements
- Strategic Arms Reduction Talks: Top Questions
- nuclear strategy - Alternatives to mutual assured destruction
- Soviet Union - Foreign policy
Why did the Soviet Union leave arms-control talks in 1983?
In 1983, the Soviet Union abandoned arms-control negotiations, including the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) talks, primarily in protest against the deployment of U.S. intermediate-range missiles in western Europe.12
Under the auspices of NATO, the United States had committed to deploying Pershing II and Tomahawk cruise missiles to counter the Soviet deployment of SS-20 missiles. The Soviet Union viewed these new deployments as a direct threat to its security and subsequently broke off negotiations at the end of 1983. Additionally, tensions were exacerbated by the announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in March 1983, which the Soviets viewed with alarm and used as a basis for their propaganda campaign against U.S. policy.3214
The Soviet Union eventually resumed these arms-control talks two years later, in 1985.12