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Soviet Union–United States summits were held from 1943 to 1991. The topics discussed at the summits between the President of the United States and either the General Secretary or the Premier of the Soviet Union ranged from fighting the Axis Powers during World War II to arms control between the two superpowers themselves during the Cold War.[1]

Allies of World War II[]

Yalta Conference (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) (B&W)

The "Big Three" Allied leaders (left to right) at the Yalta Conference, February 1945: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin.

Potsdam conference 1945-8

Clement Attlee, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, July 1945.

Date Place Country President of the United States General Secretary or Premier of the Soviet Union Notes
November 28–December 1, 1943 Tehran State Flag of Iran (1925) Iran [2] Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Also in attendance Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom.

See Tehran Conference

February 4–11, 1945 Yalta Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[2] Franklin D. Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Also in attendance Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom. First visit by a United States President to the Soviet Union.[3] See Yalta Conference
July 17–August 2, 1945 Potsdam Allied-occupied Germany[4] Harry S. Truman Joseph Stalin Also in attendance Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee of the United Kingdom.

See Potsdam Conference

Cold War (1953–1962)[]

File:Khrushchev U2.gif

Nikita Khrushchev views the wreckage of a downed Lockheed U-2. The 1960 U-2 incident was a major topic at the May 16–17, 1960 summit in Paris.

John Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev 1961

Nikita Khrushchev meeting John F. Kennedy at the Vienna Summit, June 1961

Date Place Country President of the United States General Secretary or Premier of the Soviet Union Notes
July 18–23, 1955 Geneva Flag of Switzerland  Switzerland[5] Dwight D. Eisenhower Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin Also in attendance Prime Minister Anthony Eden of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Edgar Faure of France.

See Geneva Summit

September 15, 26–27, 1959 Washington, D.C. and Camp David United States[6][7] Dwight D. Eisenhower Nikita Khrushchev First visit by a Soviet leader to the United States.
May 16–17, 1960 Paris Flag of France France[5] Dwight D. Eisenhower Nikita Khrushchev Also in attendance Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of the United Kingdom and President Charles de Gaulle of France. Khrushchev left the summit due to the dispute over the 1960 U-2 incident.
June 3–4, 1961 Vienna Flag of Austria Austria[8] John F. Kennedy Nikita Khrushchev See Vienna Summit

Cold War (1962–1979)[]

Date Place Country President of the United States General Secretary or Premier of the Soviet Union Notes
June 23 and 25, 1967 Glassboro United States[6] Lyndon B. Johnson Alexei Kosygin See Glassboro Summit Conference
May 22–30, 1972 Moscow Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[9] Richard Nixon Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin Signing of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), and the U.S.–Soviet Incidents at Sea Agreement. See Moscow Summit (1972).
June 18–25, 1973 Washington, D.C. United States[6] Richard Nixon Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin Signing of the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War.
June 28–July 3, 1974 Moscow Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[9] Richard Nixon Leonid Brezhnev Signing of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT).
November 23–24, 1974 Vladivostok Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[10] Gerald Ford Leonid Brezhnev See Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control
July 30 and August 2, 1975 Helsinki Flag of Finland Finland[10] Gerald Ford Leonid Brezhnev See Helsinki Accords and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
June 15–18, 1979 Vienna Flag of Austria Austria[11] Jimmy Carter Leonid Brezhnev Signing of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II).
Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon talks in 1973

Leonid Brezhnev meets with Richard Nixon during the Soviet leader's trip to the U.S. in June 1973

Carter Brezhnev sign SALT II

Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev signing SALT II Treaty, June 18, 1979, in Vienna

Cold War (1985–1991)[]

Reagan and Gorbachev signing

Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan sign the INF Treaty at the White House in December 1987

Bush Gorba P15623-25A

George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev at the Helsinki summit in 1990

Date Place Country President of the United States General Secretary or Premier of the Soviet Union Notes
November 19–21, 1985 Geneva Flag of Switzerland  Switzerland[12] Ronald Reagan Mikhail Gorbachev See Geneva Summit
October 10–12, 1986 Reykjavík Flag of Iceland Iceland[12] Ronald Reagan Mikhail Gorbachev See Reykjavík Summit
December 7–10, 1987 Washington, D.C. United States[6] Ronald Reagan Mikhail Gorbachev Signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. See Washington Summit.
May 29–June 1, 1988 Moscow Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[12] Ronald Reagan Mikhail Gorbachev See Moscow Summit (1988).
December 7, 1988 New York City United States[6] Ronald Reagan Mikhail Gorbachev Also in attendance President-elect George H. W. Bush. Gorbachev left the summit early due to the 1988 Spitak earthquake which struck the Armenian S.S.R. that same day.
December 2–3, 1989 Valletta Flag of Malta Malta[13] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev See Malta Summit
May 30–June 3, 1990 Washington, D.C. United States[6] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev Signing of the 1990 Chemical Weapons Accord
September 9, 1990 Helsinki Flag of Finland Finland[13] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev Discussed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.[14]
November 19, 1990 Paris Flag of France France [13] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev Signing of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
July 17, 1991 London Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom[13] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev Held in conjunction with the 17th G7 Summit.
July 30–31, 1991 Moscow Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union[13] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev Signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I).
October 29–30, 1991 Madrid Flag of Spain Spain[13] George H. W. Bush Mikhail Gorbachev Held in conjunction with the Madrid Conference of 1991.

See also[]

  • Arms control
  • Cold War
  • Détente
  • Foreign policy of the United States
  • Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
  • List of international trips made by the President of the United States
  • Nuclear disarmament
  • Soviet Union–United States relations
  • List of Russia–United States summits

References[]

  1. Fain III, W. Taylor "Chronology: US-Soviet summits, 1943-1991" Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine. US Department of State Dispatch, August 12, 1991
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63gnJLpqs?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/roosevelt-franklin-d. 
  3. "Presidents Travels to Russia". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. https://www.webcitation.org/64PB46AE9?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/russia. 
  4. "Travels of President Harry S. Truman". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63go7tl43?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/truman-harry-s. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63goC10Wd?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/eisenhower-dwight-d. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Visits By Foreign Leaders of Russia". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05. https://www.webcitation.org/64SFxxL8f?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/russia. 
  7. "1959 Year In Review Khrushchev Visits the United States". United Press International. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05. https://www.webcitation.org/64SGRRTiR?url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1959/Khrushchev-Visits-the-United-States/12295509433704-8/. 
  8. "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63goGt8ev?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/kennedy-john-f. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63goRswKm?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/nixon-richard-m. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Travels of President Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63goWGZIu?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/ford-gerald-r. 
  11. "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63goarqHc?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/carter-jimmy. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63gpFw8s3?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/reagan-ronald. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. https://www.webcitation.org/63gpLb7Kk?url=http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/bush-george-h-w. 
  14. "Joint News Conference of President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Helsinki, Finland September 9, 1990". The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on January 5, 2012. https://www.webcitation.org/64SGmHxCq?url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=18810. 

External links[]


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