page_title: Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control
section_title: Day two: November 24
hierarchical_section_title: Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control / Day two: November 24
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of President Gerald Ford, General Secretary Lenoid Brezhnev, and Henry Kissinger speaking informally at the conclusion of the Vladivostok Summit on the tarmac at Vozdvizhenka&#160; Airport. Just moments after this photo was taken, President Ford informally concluded the Vladivostok Summit by giving his wolfskin coat to Secretary Brezhnev.
context_page_description: The Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control was a two-day summit held on November 23 and 24, 1974 in Vladivostok for the purpose of extending arms control provisions between the Soviet Union and the United States. After a series of talks between American President Gerald Ford and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko in Washington and American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's visit to Moscow, Ford traveled to Vladivostok to meet with Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev directly. The two heads of state agreed to terms that would limit both nations an "equal aggregate number" of various weapons, including strategic nuclear delivery vehicles, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles fitted with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles.
context_section_description: The second day of negotiations began shortly after 10:00am, and it focused primarily on developments in the Middle East, efforts to reduce the strength of both American and Soviet forces in Europe, and Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. According to Kissinger, Gromyko took the lead Soviet role in negotiations that Brezhnev had performed the day before. While Ford described the tenor of the discussions as candid, he also admitted that there were no major breakthroughs. According to Dobrynin, the talks were "intense and heated but genuinely businesslike, and without any of the usual protocol formalities". In Kissinger's words, the second day of negotiations reflected how "essentially theological the SALT debate had become": the Soviet Union attempted to limit their weapons to a level they "could probably not reach" in exchange for limiting the Americans below a number "for which we had no plan". Nonetheless, Ford was euphoric because of the successes achieved the night before, and according to him Brezhnev "shared my enthusiasm". After a few minor issues were ironed out, the two heads of state were able to sign a SALT II accord.
  That afternoon, after the formal negotiations concluded, Brezhnev invited the American delegation on a tour of Vladivostok. Ford enjoyed what he described as a "natural and uninhibited" conversation with Brezhnev during the tour, and his only regret about it was that he did not have more time to see and explore the city: to him, Vladivostok was reminiscent of San Francisco. Kissinger also saw the resemblance, noting that Vladivostok "bore little resemblance to the teeming, hyperactive metropolises of Japan and Korea" he had seen before arriving in the Soviet Union.
  During the tour, Brezhnev unexpectedly grasped Ford's hand and began talking about the Soviet experience during World War II, telling Ford that "I do not want to inflict that upon my people again". Ford responded that "I believe we made very significant progress", to which Brezhnev replied "it's our responsibility, yours and mine, on behalf of our countries, to achieve the finalization of the document". Ford was optimistic about that possibility, remarking: "We have made so much headway. This is a big step forward to prevent a nuclear holocaust." Brezhnev agreed, and then characterized the importance of the Summit and the resulting document as "an opportunity to protect not only the people of our two countries but, really, all mankind".
  Following the tour of Vladivostok, the American and Soviet delegations returned to Vozdvizhenka Airbase by train, where Air Force One was waiting for the Americans. Ford was wearing a wolfskin coat, given to him by Alaskan furrier and personal friend Jack Kim, which he had been wearing throughout the Summit. Just before he embarked on the airplane, Ford gave his wolfskin coat to Brezhnev, whom he described as "truly overwhelmed" by the gesture. According to Dobrynin, Brezhnev and Ford seemed to have parted as friends. After the Americans waved goodbye, Air Force One taxied to the runway and took off on its multi-hour flight back to the United States.
caption: The delegations on the tarmac at Vozdvizhenka Airbase, just moments before Ford informally concluded the Summit by giving his wolfskin coat to Brezhnev
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