Editing Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (section)

==SALT II Treaty==
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[[File:Carter Brezhnev sign SALT II.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] signing the SALT II treaty, June 18, 1979, at the [[Hofburg Palace]], in Vienna]]

SALT II was a series of talks between American and Soviet negotiators from 1972 to 1979 that sought to curtail the manufacture of [[strategic nuclear weapons]]. It was a continuation of the SALT I talks and was led by representatives from both countries. It was the first nuclear arms treaty to assume real reductions in strategic forces to 2,250 of all categories of delivery vehicles on both sides.

The SALT II Treaty banned new missile programs, defined as those with any key parameter 5% better than in currently-employed missiles. That forced both sides to limit their new strategic missile types development and construction, such as the development of additional fixed ICBM launchers. Likewise, the agreement would limit the number of MIRVed ballistic missiles and long range missiles to 1,320.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Formigoni|first1=Guido|title=Storia della politica internazionale nell'età contemporanea|date=2006|publisher=Il Mulino|isbn=9788815113900|page=463|language=it|oclc=470821042}}</ref> However, the United States preserved its most essential programs like the [[Trident (missile)|Trident missile]], along with the [[cruise missile]]s President [[Jimmy Carter]] wished to use as his main defensive weapon as they were too slow to have first strike capability. In return, the Soviets could exclusively retain 308 of its so-called "[[heavy ICBM]]" launchers of the [[SS-18]] type.

A major breakthrough for the agreement occurred at the [[Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control|Vladivostok Summit Meeting]] in November 1974, when President [[Gerald Ford]] and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev came to an agreement on the basic framework for the SALT II agreement. The elements of the agreement were stated to be in effect until 1985.

An agreement to limit strategic launchers was reached in [[Vienna]] on June 18, 1979, and was signed by Brezhnev and Carter at a ceremony held in the Redoutensaal of the [[Hofburg Palace]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schram|first1=Martin|title=Carter and Brezhnev Sign SALT II|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/06/19/carter-and-brezhnev-sign-salt-ii/178e1345-41bf-4c58-a787-ccad34019a80/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240410021233/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/06/19/carter-and-brezhnev-sign-salt-ii/178e1345-41bf-4c58-a787-ccad34019a80/|archive-date=10 April 2024|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=19 June 1979}}</ref>

Six months after the signing, the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan|Soviets invaded Afghanistan]], and in September, the United States discovered that a Soviet combat brigade was stationed in Cuba.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=31458 |title=Jimmy Carter: "Peace and National Security Address to the Nation on Soviet Combat Troops in Cuba and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.," October 1, 1979 |author1=Peters,Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=University of California - Santa Barbara}}</ref> Although Carter claimed that the Soviet brigade had been deployed to Cuba only recently, the unit had been stationed on the island since the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gaddis|first1=John Lewis|title=The Cold War: a new history|date=2007|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-1594200625|page=[https://archive.org/details/coldwarnewhistor00gadd/page/203 203]|url=https://archive.org/details/coldwarnewhistor00gadd/page/203|language=en|url-access=registration}}</ref> In light of those developments, Carter withdrew the treaty from consideration in January 1980, and the [[US Senate]] never consented to [[ratification]] although terms were honored by both sides until 1986.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=George C.|last2=Smith|first2=R. Jeffrey|title=U.S. to Break SALT II Limits Friday|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/11/27/us-to-break-salt-ii-limits-friday/796f8715-e76e-41be-822c-dd33109813a9/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241225012644/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/11/27/us-to-break-salt-ii-limits-friday/796f8715-e76e-41be-822c-dd33109813a9/|archive-date=December 25, 2024|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=27 November 1986}}</ref>

SALT II was superseded by [[START I]] in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|title=Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) {{!}} Treaties & Regimes {{!}} NTI|url=http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/strategic-arms-limitation-talks-salt-ii/|website=www.nti.org|access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref>