196. Minutes of a Verification Panel Meeting1
Washington, September 15, 1971, 3:20–4:33 p.m.
SUBJECT
- SALT
PARTICIPANTS
- Chairman—Henry A. Kissinger
- State
- John N. Irwin
- Robert Martin
- Tom Pickering
- Defense
- David Packard
- Gardiner Tucker
- Archie Wood
-
JCS
- Adm. Thomas H. Moorer
- Col. Paul Von Ins
-
CIA
- Richard Helms
- Carl Duckett
- Justice
- John Mitchell
-
ACDA
- Philip J. Farley
- Spurgeon Keeny
-
OST
- John Baldeschwieler
- John Walsh
-
NSC Staff
- William G. Hyland
- Helmut Sonnenfeldt
- Lt. Col. Jack Merritt
- R/Adm. Robert Welander
- Col. Richard Kennedy
- Barry Carter
- K. Wayne Smith
- Jeanne W. Davis
SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS
It was agreed that:
- —the State Department would draft an instruction to our delegation in Helsinki2 to reject the latest Soviet ABM proposal, while taking advantage of the arguments used therein, and to stick with the U.S. two-for-one ABM proposal.3
- —Dr. Kissinger will confirm the President’s intent in NSDM 1274 concerning zero ABMs, with a view to instructing our delegation not to include mention of zero ABMs in the preamble.
- —our delegation should continue to insist on inclusion of SLBMs in a defensive agreement.
- —the Soviets should be told that there must be serious discussion of offensive limitations when the talks reconvene in Vienna.
- —Our delegation should agree to September 24 as a termination date for this round.
[Omitted here are the minutes of the meeting.]
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–107, Verification Panel Minutes Originals 1969–3/8/72. Top Secret. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.↩
- Telegram 172266 to USDEL SALT, September 18, conveyed the Verification Panel instructions. (Ibid., SALT, Box 882, SALT talks (Helsinki), Vol. 17, September–December 1971)↩
- The Soviet ABM proposal is Document 193, and the U.S. proposal is Document 194.↩
- Document 192.↩