Moscow Conference of 1963
Moscow Conference of 1963, a conference at which the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union agreed to limit testing of nuclear weapons. The conference began July 15 and ended July 25. Negotiators at the conference were Averell Harriman, United States undersecretary of state for political affairs; Andrei Gromyko, Soviet foreign minister; and Viscount Hailsham, British minister for science.
In the treaty, the three powers agreed not to test nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in space, or in the oceans. Underground tests were not forbidden because of difficulties in detecting them. The parties were forbidden to aid or encourage any other nation to conduct nuclear tests. Each party was given the right to withdraw from the treaty, after giving three months' notice, in case of extraordinary events jeopardizing its national interests.
The three nations pledged themselves to work for an agreement on disarmament and to continue negotiations aimed at ending nuclear testing for all time. All nations were invited to sign the treaty, and more than 100 did so. Among those who did not were France (the only other nuclear power at the time) and China.
The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate on September 24, 1963, and signed by President Kennedy on October 7, 1963.