The first round of SALT meetings lasted from 1969 to
1972. The meetings took place in Helsinki, Finland; Vi-
enna, Austria; and Geneva, Switzerland. A second
round, held in Geneva, lasted from 1973 to 1979.
The first round of meetings led to two major US.-
Soviet agreements signed in 1972. The two agreements
together became known as SALT I. One agreement was
a treaty limiting each country's defensive missile system
to two ABM sites with no more than 1000 missiles at each
site. The treaty was later changed to allow each nation
only one site. The other SALT I pact limited distribution
of certain offensive nuclear weapons for five years. 80th
agreements went into effect in 1972.

In 1979, another round of SALT talks led to the sign-
ing of a U.S.-Soviet treaty limiting long-range bombers
and missiles. But the pact, known as SALT II, did not offfi-
cially take effect because the U.S. Senate never ratified it
The Senate stopped considering the treaty in 1980,
partly to protest a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 8ut
limits under SALT II were observed until 1986.
In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved, and most of
the Soviet republics formed a loose confederation of in-
dependent states. Key members agreed to abide by the
ABM treaty of SALT I. The United States also continued
to observe the ABM treaty.