may 22, 1972 - Moscow Summit (1972)

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From May 22 to May 30, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon met with the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow which marked a historical summit and a turning point in Cold War diplomacy. Moreover, marking the first visit of a US president in office to the Soviet Union, and being known as a major step towards easing tensions between the two major powers in the war. The summit sparked several key arguments, such as the strategic arms limitation treaty (SALT 1), and the anti-ballistic missile treaty (ABM), both trying to end the nuclear arms race.
The summit did not just improve tensions between a nuclear war but also set to improve economic and trade relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nixon and Brezhnev signed the Basic Principles of Relations Between The United States and the Soviet Union, a document underlining the mutual commitment to have peaceful coexistence within the remainder of the war. Despite these agreements between the great powers tensions were still perceived, especially interwoven with geopolitics between conflicts in the Middle East and Vietnam.
The Moscow Summit of 1972 was a defining moment of the Civil War, shaping its history today. In the end, it did not end the rivalry between the U.S. and the USSR, but it demonstrated that diplomacy could prevent direct disagreements causing action and establish control for future encounters. Therefore, this summit, along with other meetings, played a crucial role in shaping this complex relationship between the two great powers throughout the 1970s and beyond.
-Troy Boissonneault


Cold War Museum. "Moscow Summit of 1972." Cold War Museum, 10 Dec. 2024, https://www.coldwar.org/Moscow-Summit-1972. Accessed 3 February 2025.
National History Education Network. "Cold War: Détente." National History Education Network, 15 Jan. 2025, https://www.historyeducationnetwork.org/cold-war-détente. Accessed 3 February 2025.
Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. Penguin, 2006. "Moscow Summit 1972 – Nixon and Brezhnev." YouTube, uploaded by Historical Analysis, 12 May 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYVSJsy7o5c.

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