Recognizing the likely chances that a nuclear accident, misjudgment or other incident could trigger a nuclear war, the United States and the Soviet Union proposed measures to protect against surprise attacks and improved communications in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 showed how much a crisis can escalate and both countries have become more serious by reducing the risk of nuclear war. In June 1963, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a direct communication link between the two capitals to ensure reliable and rapid communication in the event of a crisis. This is known as the “emergency appeal agreement.” Although limited in scope, it has proved useful on many occasions, including during the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973, when it was used to inform about the movements of us fleets in the Mediterranean.3 The telephone assistance agreement has been updated several times and remains in force to this day. At the beginning of the meetings, the discussions, along with the main SALT negotiations, highlighted some mutual concern about the problem of involuntary war, which showed encouraging prospects for reaching an agreement. This preliminary research led to the establishment of two special working groups, led by the two SALT delegations. One group focused on information exchange arrangements to reduce uncertainty and avoid misunderstandings in the event of a nuclear incident. The other dealt with a related topic — ways to improve direct communication between Washington and Moscow. In the summer of 1971, important substantive issues were resolved and SALT delegations referred draft international agreements to their governments. Both agreements were signed in Washington on September 30, 1971 and came into force on that date. Reducing the risk of nuclear war, limiting nuclear proliferation and reducing the world`s nuclear weapons stockpiles are key national and international security objectives. They are pursued by a large number of international agreements and agreements on arms control, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism.

The very existence of nuclear weapons systems, even in the most modern command and control procedures, seems to be a constant concern. Despite the most costly precautions, technical malfunctions or human error, a misinterpreted incident or unauthorized action may trigger a nuclear disaster or nuclear war. As part of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), the United States and the Soviet Union have concluded two agreements that increasingly recognize the need to reduce these risks and complement the central objective of the negotiations.