Word: pact
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...trace of hope, the two opposing power blocs in Europe probed each other last week, seeking out possible areas of cooperation. In Brussels, the foreign and defense ministers of the 15 NATO members were gathered for their annual review. In Moscow, the political leaders of the seven Warsaw Pact nations were holding a meeting of their own. In each capital, the conferees followed their rivals' proceedings with lively interest...
...suggestion for mutual troop reductions in Europe (see chart). The Soviets, however, have shown no interest in such a move. The Red Army forces in Eastern Europe accomplish two major objectives of Soviet foreign policy: they provide perimeter defense of the motherland, and they help to keep the Warsaw Pact countries in line...
Several of the foreign ministers, including West Germany's Walter Scheel, remained convinced that the West nonetheless should display a readiness to negotiate with the Soviets. The final communique, though weighted in favor of the American position, was a compromise. While the NATO ministers welcomed the Warsaw Pact's call for talks, they stressed that careful preparations would have to be made beforehand...
Isolation Anxiety. In Moscow, the Warsaw Pact officials spent much of their two-day meeting debating West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's offer of improved trade and political relations. Since fear of the West Germans has been one of the East bloc's unifying forces, a reconciliation with Bonn could slowly erode the Warsaw Pact. The prospect of a rapprochement particularly alarms East German Boss Walter Ulbricht, who fears that his half of Germany might lose considerable East bloc business in the event of a deal between Bonn and the Warsaw Pact countries...
...reportedly arrived in Moscow two days before the meetings began. His mission was to urge the Soviet leaders to insist on full diplomatic recognition of his German Democratic Republic by Bonn before the Communist countries enter into any dealings with West Germany. But he was overruled by his Warsaw Pact comrades, who badly need trade and industrial credits from prospering West Germany...