Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), negotiations between the United States and the USSR aimed at preventing the expansion of strategic weapons in both countries. Salt I (1969–72) achieved an antiballistic missile treaty and an interim agreement on some offensive nuclear weapons. Salt II was initiated in 1972. A treaty was signed in 1979, but ratification by the U.S. Senate was shelved (1980) after the USSR invaded Afghanistan. In 1982 the United States and USSR initiated a new series of negotiations called the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START). A treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons was signed in 1987 by Pres. Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate and the Soviet Presidium in 1988.