Office of the Historian

235. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and the Soviet Ambassador (Dobrynin)1

Washington, July 12, 1974, 10:09 a.m.

D: Hello.

K: Anatoly.

D: Hello, Henry. I am really glad to hear your voice.

K: I am so busy doing your work in the European Security Conference and elsewhere that we’re not in contact anymore.

[Page 699]

D: Well, for a change I think it is useful. Really. To do something … well, Henry have to thank you for the opportunity to meet on Monday because I go for a rather long vacation on Tuesday.

K: Ok, can we have lunch on Monday.2

D: Yes, that is very good. Yes, and if you don’t mind to look through on those agreements which have an understanding on what we are going to do from an organizational point of view. When we will begin it and …

K: Absolutely. And also I want to tell you what we have done on the European Security Conference, because I think we have got it in a very positive direction now, if you cooperate a little bit on Basket III.

D: Well, do you have any concrete suggestions? This is important.

K: I think we have broken the back on the Summit idea.

D: Already.

K: I think we are well on the way. But don’t go around saying this.

D: No, no, no.

K: No, you won’t, but sometimes your people in the lower regions are not as subtle as you are.

D: On this only Gromyko and myself are looking, otherwise he will keep this close to his heart. It is a project he likes very much.

[Omitted here is discussion of matters other than the European security conference or MBFR.]

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Transcripts (Telcons), Box 28, Anatoli Dobrynin File. No classification marking.↩
  2. No record of this lunch meeting on July 15 has been found.↩