U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter (seated left) and Soviet General Secretary
Leonid Brezhnev signing the SALT II treaty in Vienna, June 18,
1979.
On January 2, 1980, in a strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asks the Senate to
postpone action on the SALT II nuclear weapons treaty and recalls
the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. These actions sent a message that
the age of détente and the friendlier diplomatic and economic relations
that were established between the United States and Soviet Union
during President Richard Nixon’s administration (1969-74) had ended.
Carter feared that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in which an
estimated 30,000 combat troops entered that nation and established
a puppet government, would threaten the stability of neighboring
strategic countries such as Iran and Pakistan and could lead to the
USSR gaining control over much of the world’s oil supplies. The
Soviet actions were labeled “a serious threat to peace” by the
White House.
President Jimmy Carter and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev shake hands after signing the SALT II Treaty.
