From the Journal of A.F. Dobrynin, 'Record of a Conversation with US President R. Nixon, 13 October 1973'

RECORD OF A CONVERSATION

with US President R. Nixon

13 October 1973

After the end of the ceremony in the White House about President Nixon’s announcement of the nomination of G. Ford to the vacant post of Vice-President those present began to approach the President and Ford, who were standing next [to them] in a line, to wish them well, and congratulate [them] on the choice of a new Vice-President.

When I approached, after an exchange of greetings with him and Ford, the President drew me aside in front of everyone and said the following:

“I have been informed in detail by Kissinger of your conversations with him today. I ask you personally, on my behalf, to convey to General Secretary L.I. Brezhnev that he and I are being provoked in the USA from different sides in order to disrupt detente. Many would like to see exactly this outcome. But we must not yield to such provocations, because too much depends on this for the fates of our two peoples, the course we together have taken to correct and improve the relations between our countries. Tell the General Secretary that despite the current hype and brouhaha in the United States against detente from certain circles, I will not succumb to this pressure and will fulfill my part of the obligations I have undertaken to the Soviet leadership and to the General Secretary personally.”

I expressed satisfaction with this statement of the President, saying that it would be reported to L.I. Brezhnev and the other Soviet leaders.

This is where the conversation ended, since it had clearly attracted the attention of everyone present. The President returned to Ford and the procedure of shaking hands with those invited to the White House continued.

SOVIET AMBASSADOR IN THE US                                          

(A. DOBRYNIN)