US pinning a new stress on arms to Soviet actions

The United States said it was being forced to return to a program of rearmament because the Soviet Union had endangered East-West detente. Max Kampelman, co-chairman of the US delegation at the European Security Conference, said detente principles agreed to at Helsinki in 1975 had been distorted by Moscow into a propaganda weapon rather than a guide for international behavior.

"We had hoped that this spirit of Helsinki would serve as a sufficient deterrent and that the attraction of security, cooperation, and peace would persuade all to join us in a determined common effort to achieve international stability and security. Regrettably, that has not proven to be the case, and we are reluctantly forced to the conclusion that we must once again depend upon our military strength to serve as the necessary deterrent," he said.