Khrushchev proposes a unilateral reduction of armaments and personnel of the armed forces, promoting a more positive international image while still maintaining strong defense capabilities.
December 14, 1959
CC CPSU Presidium Decision, 'About Further Steps in the Struggle for Reduction of International Tension'
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Communist Party of the Soviet Union. CENTRAL COMMITTEE
#P253/P Top Secret
To com. Khrushchev.
Excerpt from protocol no. 253 of meeting of the CC Presidium of 14 December 1959
About further steps in the struggle for reduction of international tension.
1. To approve the proposals laid out in the note of com. Khrushchev N.S. to the CC Presidium about the unilateral implementation by the Soviet Union of measures directed at the reduction of international tension.
The question about the unilateral implementation of measures directed at the reduction of international tension, should be put on the agenda of a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
2. To commission the Ministry of Defense (com. [Rodion] Malinovsky) to introduce concrete proposals on this issue for deliberation of the CC CPSU, while taking into account the exchange of opinions that took place at the meeting of the CC Presidium.
3. To convene in the CC CPSU on 18 December this year a conference of commanders, chiefs of staffs, and members of military councils of military districts for discussion of practical measures in the army, related to the proposals com. Khrushchev N.S. outlined in [his] note to the CC Presidium.
To entrust the chairmanship of the conference to com. Khrushchev N.S.
SECRETARY OF CC
4-ak
CPSU Presidium approves Khrushchev's proposals for unilateral reduction of armaments and personnel of the armed forces, and directs military leaders to meet to discuss practical measures related to the proposal.
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Center for the Storage of Contemporary Documentation (TsKhSD), f. 2, op. 1, d. 416, ll. 1-11; translation by Vladislav M. Zubok (National Security Archive).
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