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Conversation No. 277–018

Date: September 15, 1971
Time: 2:37 pm - 3:15 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

National Security Adviser Henry A. Kissinger entered at 2:38 P.M.

[89:30 on 277A]

President Nixon: Amchitka, we’re going ahead with, aren’t we?

Henry Kissinger: Yes. We’re moving in, Mr. President, but the end of October is getting too hairy to do it early in October as you know from the last [unclear].

President Nixon: Too close to the Russians?

Kissinger: It’s too close to the Russians and the Chinese announcement, and the Chinese trip. We’re doing it after the demarche, after we have all these announcements.

President Nixon: They aren’t going to object to it?

Kissinger: No. They won’t object to it, but if the Russians screw up a nuclear test two days before it—

President Nixon: Yeah, that’s right.

Kissinger: —a summit, it will just look like a very threatening act.

President Nixon: That’s right. And you could inform the fellow beforehand. This is [unclear].

Kissinger: The Russians don’t care [unclear].

President Nixon: It’ll [unclear] the Chinese, though. The Chinese, though, I’d tell them [unclear] Russians did a test [unclear].

Kissinger: No, it’s no problem, actually. The problem isn’t—it’s simply, if the Russians blew out a test, say, the day before or the day after, even two days before or after the announcement, everyone here would say, “Look at these threatening sons of bitches. Who wants the summit?” If we do it a week before or week after [unclear].

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