Détente Détente ( , meaning " relax " ) is the easing of strained relations , especially in a political situation . The term is often used in reference to the general easing of the geo - political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States which began in 1969 , as a foreign policy of U . S . presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford called " détente " ; a ' thawing out ' or ' un - freezing ' at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War . Détente was known in Russian as разрядка ( " " razryadka " " , loosely meaning " relaxation of tension " ) . The period was characterized by the signing of treaties such as the SALT I and the Helsinki Accords . A second Arms - Limitation Treaty , SALT II , was discussed but never ratified by the United States . There is still ongoing debate amongst historians as to how successful the détente period was in achieving peace . After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 , the two superpowers agreed to install a direct hotline between Washington D . C . and Moscow ( the so - called red telephone ) , enabling leaders of both countries to quickly interact with each other in a time of urgency , and reduce the chances that future crises could escalate into an all - out war . The U . S . / U . S . S . R . détente was presented as an applied extension of that thinking . The SALT II pact of the late 1970s continued the work off the SALT I talks , ensuring further reduction in arms by the Soviets and by the US . The Helsinki Accords , in which the Soviets promised to grant free elections in Europe , has been called a major concession to ensure peace by the Soviets . Détente ended after the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan , which led to America ' s boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow . Ronald Reagan ' s election as president in 1980 , based in large part on an anti - détente campaign ( " Détente . . . Isn ' t that what a turkey has with his farmer — until Thanksgiving Day ? " ) , marked the close of détente and a return to Cold War tensions . In his first press conference , president Reagan said " ' Détente ' has been a one - way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its aims . " Summits and treaties . The most obvious manifestation of détente was the series of summits held between the leaders of the two superpowers and the treaties that resulted from these meetings . Early 1960s , before détente , the Partial Test Ban Treaty had been signed on August 5 , 1963 . Later in the decade , the Nuclear Non - Proliferation Treaty and Outer Space Treaty were two of the first building blocks of détente . However , these early treaties were in fact signed all over the globe . The most important treaties were not developed until the Nixon Administration came into office in 1969 . The Political Consultative Committee of the Warsaw Pact sent an offer to the West , urging them to hold a summit on " security and cooperation in Europe " . The West agreed and talks began towards actual limits in the nuclear capabilities of the two superpowers . This ultimately led to the signing of the SALT I treaty in 1972 . This treaty limited each power ' s nuclear arsenals , though it was quickly rendered out - of - date as a result of the development of MIRV s . In the same year that SALT I was signed , the Biological Weapons Convention and the Anti - Ballistic Missile Treaty were also concluded . Talks on SALT II also began in 1972 . In 1975 , the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe met and produced the Helsinki Accords , a wide ranging series of agreements on economic , political , and human rights issues . The CSCE was initiated by the USSR , involving 35 states throughout Europe . Among other issues , one of the most prevalent and discussed after the conference was that of human rights violations in the Soviet Union . The Soviet Constitution directly violated the Declaration of Human Rights from the United Nations , and this issue became a prominent point of separation between the United States and the Soviet Union . The Carter administration had been supporting human rights groups inside the Soviet Union , and Leonid Brezhnev accused the administration of interference in other countries ' internal affairs . This prompted intense discussion of whether or not other nations may interfere if basic human rights are being violated , such as freedom of speech and religion . The basic disagreement in the philosophies of a democracy and a single - party state did not allow for reconciliation of this issue . Furthermore , the Soviets proceeded to defend their internal policies on human rights by attacking American support of countries like South Africa and Chile , which were known to violate many of the same human rights issues . In July of the same year , the Apollo - Soyuz Test Project became the first international space mission , wherein three American astronauts and two Russian cosmonauts docked their spacecraft and conducted joint experiments . This mission had been preceded by five years of political negotiation and technical co - operation , including exchanges of US and Russian engineers between the two countries ' space centers . Trade relations between the two blocs increased substantially during the era of détente . Most significant were the vast shipments of that were sent from the West to the Soviet Union each year , which helped make up for the failure of kolkhoz , Soviet collectivized agriculture . At the same time , the Jackson - Vanik amendment , signed into law by Gerald Ford on January 3 , 1975 , after a unanimous vote by both houses of the United States Congress , was designed to leverage trade relations between the U . S . and the USSR , making the United States dependent upon improvements of human rights within the Soviet Union , in particular allowing refusenik s to emigrate ; it added to the Most Favoured Nation status a clause that provided that no countries resisting emigration could be awarded this status . This provided Jackson with a method of adding some ideological content to détente , linking geopolitics to human rights . Continued conflicts . As direct relations thawed , increased tensions continued between the superpowers through their surrogates , especially in the Third World . Conflicts in South Asia , and the Middle East in 1973 , saw the Soviet and U . S . backing their respective surrogates with war material and diplomatic posturing . In Latin America , the United States continued to block any leftward electoral shifts in the region by supporting right - wing military coup s . During much of the early détente period , the Vietnam War continued to rage . Neither side trusted the other fully and the potential for nuclear war remained constant . Each side continued to aim thousands of nuclear warheads atop intercontinental ballistic missile s ( ICBMs ) at each other ' s cities , maintain submarine s with long - range nuclear weapon capability ( Submarine - launched ballistic missile s or SLBMs ) in the world ' s oceans , keep hundreds of nuclear - armed aircraft on constant alert , and guard contentious borders in Korea and Europe with large ground forces . Espionage efforts remained a high priority as defector s , reconnaissance satellite s , and signal intercepts measured intentions and attempted to gain strategic advantage . End . The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that was to shore up a struggling allied regime led to harsh criticisms in the west and a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics , which were to be held in Moscow . Jimmy Carter boosted the U . S . defense budget and began financially aiding the President of Pakistan , General Muhammad Zia - ul - Haq , who would in turn subsidize the anti - Soviet Mujahideen fighters in the region . The 1980 American presidential election saw Ronald Reagan elected on a platform opposed to the concessions of détente . Negotiations on SALT II were abandoned .