President Nixon, Soviet Ambassador Anatoliy Dobrynin, and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger met at Camp David to conduct high-level diplomatic discussions shortly before the 1972 Moscow Summit. The meeting served as a final preparation phase to address outstanding bilateral issues and stabilize U.S.-Soviet relations ahead of the President's upcoming state visit. Although the specific dialogue remains largely inaccessible due to recording gaps, the session functioned as a critical venue for managing the strategic agenda between the two superpowers.
On May 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:44 am to 9:50 am. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 190-020 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidConversation No. 190-20
Date: May 18, 1972
Time: 8:44-9:50 am
Location: Camp David Hard Wire
The President met with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin and Henry A. Kissinger.
[Discontinuities appear in the original recording]
[Unintelligible]
The President, Dobrynin, and Kissinger left at 9:50 am.No transcript is available for this conversation. The audio may not contain audible speech, or the recording may not yet have been processed.