1974 -- November 24
VLADIVOSTOK SUMMIT

Meeting in Vladivostok, U.S. President Gerald Ford and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev announced agreement on a formula for a second plan to limit strategic offensive arms (SALT II):

1979 -- June 18
VIENNA SUMMIT

At a summit meeting in Vienna, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev signed the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II). Its major provisions include:

A ceiling of 2,400 ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers for both sides, to be reached within six months after the treaty enters into force, with a further reduction to 2,250 by 1981.

1985 -- November 21
GENEVA SUMMIT

President Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev issued a joint statement in Geneva following two days of intensive negotiations. They agreed to commit their two countries to early progress at the Nuclear and Space Talks and to focus on areas where there is common ground -- the "principle of 50 percent reductions in the nuclear arms of the United States and the Soviet Union appropriately applied."

1986 -- October 11-12
REYKJAVIK SUMMIT

At a summit meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to equal global ceilings of 100 longer-range intermediate nuclear force missile warheads for each side, with none in Europe. The Soviet Union also offered to freeze its shorter-range intermediate nuclear force missile systems, pending negotiation of reductions, if U.S. SRINF missile systems are "frozen" at the current level of zero. The Soviet Union also agreed in principle to some key verification elements. As a result of this initiative, on December 8, 1987, President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev signed the "Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles."

The INF Treaty requires elimination of all LRINF missiles (ranges between 1,000 and 5,500 kilometers) by June 1, 1991 and All SRINF (ranges between 500 and 1,000 kilometers) missiles within 18 months. A total of 2,692 missiles were slated for elimination under this treaty. In addition, all associated launchers, equipment, support facilities, and operating bases worldwide are to be eliminated or closed out from any further INF missile system activity.

1987 -- December 7-10
WASHINGTON SUMMIT

Meeting in Washington, President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev agreed that their START negotiators should build upon the areas of agreement in the joint draft START treaty text being developed in Geneva. These include:

During the summit the two leaders made further progress on START, agreeing on a sublimit of 4,900 for the total number of ballistic missile warheads and guidelines for effective verification of a START treaty, building on the verification provisions of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

1988 -- May 29-June 2
MOSCOW SUMMIT

At a summit meeting in Moscow, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to confine road-mobile and rail-mobile ICBMs to restricted areas, with right of dispersal for occasional operations and exercises, and accept the requirement to notify once dispersal begins.

On May 31, the sides signed the Ballistic Missile Launch Notification Agreement. Designed to reduce the risk of nuclear war, the agreement requires each side to notify the other at least 24 hours in advance of all ICBM and SLBM launches.

1990 -- May 31-June 3
WASHINGTON SUMMIT

At a summit in Washington, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev signed the "Joint Statement on the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms." The statement recapitulates already-agreed START provisions and adds two new provisions agreed during the summit:

The presidents also agreed that follow-on START negotiations would begin "at the earliest practical date."

1992 -- June 16-18
WASHINGTON SUMMIT "JOINT UNDERSTANDING" ON START II

During a summit meeting in Washington, Presidents Bush and Yeltsin developed the framework for a follow-on strategic reduction agreement (START II). The "Joint Understanding" called for:

1994 -- September 27-28
WASHINGTON SUMMIT

In a joint statement, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin confirmed their intention to seek early ratification of the START II Treaty. The presidents further agreed "once the START II Treaty is ratified, the United States and Russia will proceed to deactivate all strategic nuclear delivery systems to be reduced under START II by removing their nuclear warheads or taking other steps to remove them from combat status."

1997 -- March 21
HELSINKI SUMMIT

At the Helsinki Summit, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin issued a "Joint Statement on Parameters on Future Reductions in Nuclear Forces" containing several elements:

They also discussed agreement on a framework for START III to include:

2001, November 13
WASHINGTON SUMMIT

On November 13, after his initial summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President George W. Bush announced the United States would reduce its strategic nuclear arsenal to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads. President Putin indicated Russia would "try to respond in kind."

NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL THROUGH UNILATERAL NUCLEAR REDUCTIONS INITIATIVES

1991 -- September 27
UNILATERAL NUCLEAR REDUCTIONS PROPOSAL

President Bush announced that the United States would withdraw all of its land-based tactical nuclear weapons from overseas bases and all of its sea-based tactical nuclear weapons from U.S. ships, submarines, and aircraft (see section 5, September 27, 1991). In addition, the United States would immediately stand down all strategic bombers currently on day-to-day alert status and store their weapons, immediately stand down all ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under START, halt development of the rail garrison and mobile ICBM program, and cancel the follow- on short-range attack missile (SRAM-II) for heavy bombers.

1991 -- October 5
SOVIET RESPONSE TO U.S. INITIATIVE

President Gorbachev, in response to President Bush's initiative, announced that the Soviet Union would immediately:

1992 -- January 27
RUSSIAN ANNOUNCEMENT OF UNILATERAL INITIATIVES

Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced that Russia intends to cease production of strategic bombers and ALCMs, forego replacing tactical nuclear warheads for ground-launched weapons that are scheduled to be destroyed, and close down all remaining nuclear reactors that produce plutonium for weapons by the year 2000. He calls on the United States and Russia to reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals to 2,000 to 2,500 warheads each, to begin talks on a fissile material cutoff agreement, and to de-target strategic nuclear missiles aimed at each other's territory.

1992 -- January 28
U.S. WEAPONS REDUCTION OFFER

In a speech to the U.S. Congress, President Bush offered to cut U.S. strategic weapons further. He announced that, "After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B-2 bomber. We will cancel the small ICBM program. We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based ballistic missiles. We will stop all new production of the Peacekeeper missile. And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles."

In a preview of what will become the START II Treaty, President Bush reported that, "I have informed President Yeltsin that if the [CIS] will eliminate all land-based multiple-warhead ballistic missiles...we will eliminate all Peacekeeper missiles. We will reduce the number of heads on Minuteman missiles to one and reduce the number of warheads on our sea-based missiles by about one-third. And we will convert a substantial portion of our strategic bombers to primarily conventional use."

1991 -- September 27
U.S. UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL OF TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS

President Bush announced a major unilateral withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons: "I am...directing that the United States eliminate its entire worldwide inventory of ground-launched short-range, that is, theater, nuclear weapons. We will bring home and destroy all of our nuclear artillery shells and short-range ballistic missile warheads. We will, of course, insure that we preserve an effective air-delivered nuclear capability in Europe.

"In turn, I have asked the Soviets...to destroy their entire inventory of ground-launched theater nuclear weapons....

"Recognizing further the major changes in the international military landscape, the United States will withdraw all tactical nuclear weapons from its surface ships, attack submarines, as well as those nuclear weapons associated with our land-based naval aircraft. This means removing all nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. ships and submarines, as well as nuclear bombs aboard aircraft carriers."

1991 -- October 5
SOVIET RESPONSE

President Gorbachev responded to President Bush's unilateral withdrawal of tactical nuclear weapons by calling for the elimination of air-based weapons and announcing that:

"Moreover, we propose that the United States eliminate fully, on the basis of reciprocity, all tactical nuclear weapons of naval forces. In addition, on the basis of reciprocity, it would be possible to withdraw from combat units on frontal (tactical) aviation, all nuclear weapons (gravity bombs and air-launched missiles) and place them in centralized storage bases."

Source: The Department of State, "Arms Control and Disarmament: The U.S. Commitment, available electronically http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/armsctrl/pt4.htm