The Politburo discuss the need for Soviet troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, the best way to do that, and set up a time table to withdraw troops.

Shevardnadze and other Soviet officials propose to create a memorial to Polish officers murdered during the Katyn massacre as well as "Soviet POWs who took part in the exhumation work," and to allow Polish citizens to visit the memorial in Smolensk Oblast’.

Notes from a meeting of the Politburo regarding Nina Andreeva, a Soviet scientist and political activist who accused Gorbachev of not being true communists and abandoning the Soviet system in her essay " I Cannot Forsake My Principles."

CC CPSU Politburo Session nominating Gorbachev for General Secretary after the death of Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko. Many members of the politburo spoke in favor of Gorbachev for General Secretary. They make a unanimous recommendation to the Plenum of CC CPSU.

Gorbachev and his advisors discuss new Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah and the possible drawdown of Soviet troops.

The Politburo discusses what to do after the failure of the Reykjavik summit over Reagan's insistence on preserving the right to continue the SDI or "Star Wars" project, as well as the subsequent expulsion of Soviet diplomats from the US. In the angry, bitter meeting Gorbachev decides on the removal of 250 Soviets working in service positions at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Proposal to resume Soviet nuclear testing following the expiration of the USSR's unilateral moratorium on nuclear detonations on 1 January 1987. The US government continued nuclear testing throughout 1986 and did not join the Soviet moratorium. Proposes to announce the resumption of testing in December 1986 following the first American test explosion in 1987.

CPSU CC Politburo transcript regarding attempts to find a solution to the Afghan war and bring resolution to the conflict.

CPSU CC Politburo Decision of 24 January 1989, with attached report of 23 January 1989 regarding the various possibilities for Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and the continuing situation of conflict