7 March 1967: Transcript from U.S. Delegation to North Atlantic Council - ABM Speech

More information finally arrived in the form of a speech by Harlan Cleveland, the American Ambassador to NATO. It was the first instance that the topic of ABMs had been brought before the Council. It represents a U.S. attempt to keep allies in the loop.

In his speech, Ambassador Cleveland informed the Council that Washington would “continue to pursue the development, test, and evaluation of the NIKE X system but to take no action to deploy the system.” At the same time, he stated that the Americans had started negotiations with the Soviet Union “to develop a basis for an agreement to limit the deployment of ABM systems.”