Letter by the Chairman of the SPD, Brandt, to the General Secretary of the CC of the CPSU, Gorbachev

29. January 1986

Dear Mr. Gorbachev,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your letter, in which you shared some additional considerations to your far-reaching disarmament proposal, and for the additional comments, which we did not receive recently in conversations with Ambassador Kwizinksi. 

You know the fundamental statements of the SPD and Bundestag parliamentary group on this topic; we are in fact of the opinion, that bold proposals and bold decisions are needed in order to control arms development, to put it in check, and to arrive at disarmament. I would like to underline explicitly that I see ways to ease the situation in Europe in your proposals and know from the past exchange of ideas that these decisions were certainly not easy. I think they are correct, historically necessary, and believe that they will be proven fruitful, even if they cannot be made reality in the span of a day. 

Please allow me a few comments in this context. I do not find it politically or militarily logical that the tactically operational instruments which the Soviet Union has deployed in the GDR and SFRY as a counter measure to the stationing of Pershing II and cruise missiles will not likely be withdrawn if their motivation is dispensed with, namely if the Pershing and cruise missiles are removed. To reserve dealing with them until the second of your two envisioned steps is to a certain extent technically/bureaucratically plausible, since their range is less than 1,000 km, but does not match the political and euro-strategic complexity. 

We have understood that you see the possibility for an intermediary agreement for the euro-strategic complex and welcome that. I would find it meaningful from a European perspective to pursue this path, even if the two objectively unresolvable complexes of space weapons and strategic weapons do not proceed so quickly. I also have reason to believe, albeit it from other considerations, that such an inclination also appears activatable on the American side.

The extent to which nuclear weapons lose meaning of course causes the importance of conventional weapons to grow. We have been informed to that effect that this is known by the Soviet side; that you did not want to overload your offer but are open to suggestions and considerations for how this terribly complicated topic can be handled. It is without a doubt of high interest in Western Europe since the overwhelming majority, not only of public opinion but also of the population, assumes that the armed forces of the Warsaw Pact are conventionally and considerably superior. The principal criteria for joint security, which characterize your proposal for ending nuclear armaments, and which we share completely, must also be applied to conventional weapons. In this case it bears repeating from my point of view that political courage is more important that technical perfection. As you know, a working group is discussing an atomic weapon-free corridor with representatives of the GDR, as proposed by the Palme-Commission. This offers the politically interesting possibility of discussing stabilizing and peace-preserving elements of a specific topic for a specific region, including the conventional complex. We would be very interested in hearing your opinion of this.

Of course, we agree with your opinion that a comprehensive test-ban agreement has priority. The Federal Republic of Germany has held this position for the past decades. Should the current federal government’s position have become unclear of late, this will not stop the SPD from representing our previously existing position. 

As the President of the Socialist International, I have turned to the Vice Presidents and asked for their proposals. 

All efforts must be made to constrain the arms race in space and to end the one on Earth. We will use our contribution within the confines of our possibilities and contacts, including with our sister parties in Western Europe.   

With best wishes, 

To the General Secretary of 

the Central Commission of Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev

Moscow/USSR